Diary Log; Athrun Zala

Ten Months have past since we left Earth onboard the Lost Light, and lately on our flight to the Planet Master we have hid a are of space where radio waves are being scrambled. Long range signals are down meaning we can't contact Earth or Cybertron. However during one of our regular days Blaster picked up a communication, one that proved interesting yet also worrying.

"Attention...aw Enforcer Optronix…crash landed…Planet Gaea…heavy attack…Prisoners loose…"

"After that it just cuts out, from what I have gathered it was sent on 50 years ago" explained Blaster to the crew as they listened via communication from the bridge to all over the ship.

"And you think it's the same Optronix from the prison ship Axalon?" asked Athrun.

"It carries his data signature, it has to be Optronix" said Ultra Magnus.

"Even so 50 years is a long time, no way they were on stasis pods that long" said Jazz.

"They are built to last" said Grapple.

"What do we known about this planet Gaea?" asked Rodimus, after getting the message the ship had moved into the area and were looking over a Green and Blue coloured planet similar to Earth.

"Well it's located within the radio frequency disruption, so no ones ever really resided on this planet for decades due to the loss of long range" said Perceptor.

"So Optronix and his crew are down there?" asked Stella.

"As are the Prisoners, and that consisted of some very dangerous Cons" said Kup.

"So its 50/50 we should go down" said Luna.

"I vote leave, I'm not in a rush to see them again" said Rattrap nervously.

"Relax Rattrap, your Autobot, and you haven't done anything too illegal yet" said Magnus.

"Should we land?" asked Waltfeld.

"It be safer to send a small team, how about I take a look?" asked Star Sabre.

"Good idea, Star Sabre, Athrun, take a small team down and set up a forward communication base, scout the area and see if you can find clues. If you don't respond within 24 Hours we'll land in the Lost Light" ordered Rodimus.

Soon enough a team was put together and two of the shuttles on the ship were launched to the planet. On Star Sabre's team were the Dinobots, Blaster Rattrap, Jazz, Cliffjumper, Ratchet, Victory Leo and Chromia. On Athrun's were Dearka, Cagali, Stella and the five man Zaku Team. Waltfeld had also ordered the Murasame team to launch and begin guard duty with the Aerialbots around the Lost Light.

The shuttles landed in an area of grass with nearby forests, as soon as they had landed everyone departed and began setting up a forward base.

"Airs breathable" reported Dearka; the human team were in their pilot suits and Mobile Suits.

"We'll set up camp when sunset begins" said Athrun, "for now its best we take guard and have a team scout the area.

"Agreed, Jazz, Cliffjumper, I spotted what looked like a settlement when we were landing" ordered Star Sabre.

"Long Range communications are down, Blaster, think you can boost frequencies for short range?" asked Jazz.

"Already ahead of ya Jazz, I can keep our short range in tact but we'll loose it if we're too far away from each other" explained Blaster.

"What's the radius till the radios would die out?" asked Ratchet.

"30 Miles tops" said Blaster.

"That settlement looked like it was about 20 miles at least when we spotted it" said Athrun.

"Alright, you two check out the settlement, we'll set up here for the night, if you give the all clear we'll into the settlement tomorrow" said Star Sabre.

"We're on it" said Cliffjumper as the two transformed and drove off into the trees.

"Its weird" said Stella, "but this planet Gaea reminds me of Earth"

"We'll have to investigate later, Zaku team I want you all to take up positions as Guard Duty around the camp, 5 mile spread, keep in contact" ordered Athrun.

"Yes sir" said the Zaku pilots as they headed out for guard duty.

"Should we start setting up?" asked Chromia.

Star Sabre nodded as the rest of them began setting up the base.

As Jazz and Cliffjumper drove through the forest areas the sight of the settlement became clearer. As it took on the appearance of tall buildings, and soon that wasn't the other weird bit.

"When did this road appear?" asked Cliffjumper as they were driving on actual road now as they got closer.

"Your guess is as good as mine" said Jazz, they headed into the settlement to find the place deserted and empty. Windowless buildings towered over them covered in moss and various plant life.

"A derelict city, looks like its been like this for a while" said Cliffjumper as the two transformed to robot modes and looked around.

"Lot of these building seem ancient and empty" said Jazz as he looked inside some buildings to find empty rooms.

"So this place was inhabited once?" asked Cliffjumper.

"Possibly, but judging from the over grown vegetation I say no one has been here in a long time" said Jazz when he stopped and looked around.

"Trouble?" asked Cliffjumper.

"No, a faint signal, its Cybertronian" said Jazz as he launched a wire from his wire and pulled himself up onto the roof tops.

"It's coming from over there, stay on the ground and follow me, keep your optics sharp" he told Cliffjumper as he leapt from building the building.

"How come you get to go investigate the cool stuff? This is just like that mission in the Sea of Rust" said Cliffjumper as he transformed and followed.

"Spec Ops authority" laughed Jazz.

"Yeah whatever Sir Rustalot" Cliffjumper said back.

"Not this again" said Jazz.

"What I said 'Sir'" said Cliffjumper.

As Jazz got closer to the signal he slowed down as around him he noticed things. Wrecked buildings, burn marks, battle damage, the closer to the signal the more the area looked like a warzone.

"Cliff, you seeing this?" asked Jazz.

"Yeah, I see a few fires too, this damage looks recent" said Cliffjumper as he spotted and transformed, spotting something on the ground.

"Jazz, there's Energon on the ground here, and my scanners say it was only spilt a few hours ago" he reported.

"That's not all, I'm right on top of the signal, meet me outside the building" said Jazz as he punched an entrance inside easily on top of the building and entered. He at once spotted when he noticed a body propped against the wall, a Cybertronian body.

"Cliff, I think I found the Energon spiller, I got a Cybertronian body here, and its leaking Energon" he reported.

"They dead?" asked Cliffjumper.

"No, stasis lock it seems, but something is weird about his body, and not just his light green colour" said Jazz.

"What do you mean?" asked Cliffjumper.

"Well judging from parts of his body and the feel of this outer layer, his alternate form, was a frog" said Jazz.

"Wait, a Frog? As in those water loving, jumping things from Earth?" asked Cliffjumper.

"Very same, I can't access his memory core, its glitchy" said Jazz as he opened up the body and examined it. "But I can access his personal data computer, some data maybe missing though, give me a few minutes"

"So how come he's a frog?" asked Cliffjumper.

"I have a hunch, remember the data logs from the Axalon and how they scanned Earth inhabitants whilst looking for Optimus and the rest of us on the Ark?" asked Jazz.

"They must have scanned animals. That explains Rattrap" said Cliffjumper.

"So I'm guessing those onboard the Axalon must have taken on these animal forms when their pods landed" said Jazz.

"You think the same happened to the Prisoners?" asked Cliffjumper.

"One problem at a time Cliff" said Jazz, "there I got into his data drive. Not much to go on, Designation: Diver, served on the Axalon, whoa this is weird. Says here he's not an Autobot or a Decepticon, he's under the faction name of Maximal"

"Maximal, what the scrap is a Maximal?" asked Cliffjumper.

"Got me there Cliff, we better report back to Star Sabre and tell him what we…" before Jazz could finish a hand grabbed him making him jump a little. Diver's eyes lit up and flickered and his body shook.

"Darkness is returning, evil reborn" he said.

"Whoa, whoa take it easy. Hold on we'll get you help, we have a medic on our team" said Jazz.

"No time…was heading back to base, but they found me" said Diver as his other hand moved and gave Jazz what look like a data disc.

"Find the others…give to Primal…not much time"

"Hang in there, your gonna be…" Jazz couldn't finish again as a shot rang out and Diver's head was taken clean off. Jazz at once stored the disc away and took cover.

"Cliffjumper!" he shouted.

"I know I saw it too" said Cliffjumper as he took cover inside the building entrance, "came from that rooftop in front of us".

"Cover me, I'll move in" said Jazz, before he could the shooter took flight letting out a scream. It was a Blood red Pterodactyl with a yellow beak. It screamed as it swooped down at them.

"Okay this is getting nuts" said Cliffjumper as he opened fire on their attacker who dodged and flew away from the shots.

"Autobots? Interesting" it said before its eyes glowed, "Terrorsaur, TERRORISE!"

With that command the attack transformed into a Cybertronian with a vicious smile as it aimed its own blaster and shoulder cannons and opened fire on Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper leapt out of the blast and transformed to drive away to safe distance. Jazz was back on the rooftops taking pot-shots at Terrorsaur who turned his attentions to him. Jazz leapt down using his energy line to swing mid way and land near Cliffjumper as they both took cover behind some rubble.

"Decepticon?" asked Cliffjumper.

"Never heard a Con have to use a command code to Transform" said Jazz as he fired a few shots as Terrorsaur hovered over firing at them.

"We need to move fast, I'm guessing he's one of those prisoners the ship was carrying" said Cliffjumper. Suddenly behind them a Scorpion tail shot out the ground as a giant sized Scorpion emerged laughing at them. The two broke cover to escape but Jazz was knocked down by a giant wasp and Cliffjumper was pinned to the ground by a Spider which then threw him into Jazz and stuck them to the wall with webbing.

"Well what is this here?" asked the Spider, "Tarantulus, Terrorise"

"Scorponok, Terrorise" the Scorpion commanded.

"Waspinator, Terrorise" the Wasp buzzed.

The three transformed as they approached the captured duo with Terrorsaur.

"Well, well, Autobots" said Tarantulus as he examined the faction logos whilst chuckling, "this takes me back"

"And you'll be getting a thrashing as well when I break free" said Cliffjumper.

"Aww how cute, the little red guy thinks he's tough" chuckled Scorponok as he got close to Cliffjumper who then head butted him.

"And you have a copyrighted name" Cliffjumper said back with a grin.

"Red Autobot familiar, Waspinator know him as Cliffjumper, deadly weapons, got Waspinator few times on Cybertron" Waspinator said in disgust.

"Wait, is that you Wasp, you got taller, and dumber" said Cliffjumper.

"Yeah way to anger the guys who have us pinned" said Jazz.

"Ahh and you are the famous Special Operatives member Jazz, I remember before you got that name, right, Operative Marshall?" said Terrorsaur.

"Thought your name was familiar, you were one of the first cons I busted when I was starting out" said Jazz.

"Well I guess I owe you this" said Terrorsaur as he aimed his gun at Jazz's head.

"Claws off my friend you Dino Wannabe!" Stella shouted as Gaia and Strike Rouge opened fire from buildings on either side. Saviour flew over and fired its beam cannons as it transformed to MS mode.

"Pull Back, we must report to Magmatron!" shouted Tarantulus as the small group began to pull away and flee from the battle.

"Should we chase after them?" asked Cagali as Saviour's beam sabre cut the webbing off Jazz and Cliffjumper.

"Negative, we've clearly got enemy contact, we better return to base" said Athrun.

"Good thing you showed up when you did" said Cliffjumper.

"We managed to pick up at least one those guys from a Sky Spy Blaster launched, still bit screwy but let us know you were in trouble" said Stella.

"This whole place maybe screwy, we're not alone here" said Jazz.

Shortly afterwards they brought Diver's body back to the HQ where Ratchet took a look.

"Yes I recognise him, Diver wasn't his original name but he was a patient of mine at one point back on Cybertron. Judging from all this damage he was caught in heavy fighting" he explained.

"Have we analysed that disc yet?" asked Chromia.

"No can do, it's encoded for use by whoever this Primal is" explained Jazz.

"Acting commander maybe?" asked Dearka.

"Hard to tell, his memory is fried, almost nothing I can salvage for use" said Ratchet.

"If those four were here there maybe more of them" said Athrun.

"We'll need to try and make contact with the Lost Light soon, the Axalon was carrying enough Prisoners to make a dangerous force" said Star Sabre, "what else did you learn?"

"Well one of them shouted a name, someone called Magmatron" said Jazz.

Before Jazz could a snarling Grimlock grabbed him and pinned him to the ground with one hand with the other Dinobots trying to hold him back.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Grimlock yelled.

"What's wrong with you Dino-Jerk" Jazz shouted back as everyone tried to defuse the situation.

"Where is Magmatron? Did you place a tracker on those guys? We need to find them now!" Grimlock shouted.

"Boss stop, its not Jazz's fault Magmatron is here" said Swoop, Grimlock slowly let go as everyone gave him some space.

"Take it easy Grimlock" said Slag, "stop letting him get to you"

"I'm taking first watch" said Grimlock as he stormed away, knocking some trees over as he did.

"Well…that was fun" Rattrap tried to joke but got smack cross the head by Victory Leo.

"We'll stay here for the night and begin searching the planet tomorrow. Blaster can your team help out?" asked Star Sabre. Blaster didn't even need to answer as Rewind, Eject, Ramhorn and Steeljaw launched.

"Anytime, any place" said Blaster.

As the night drew in Grimlock stood in the forests, grumbling to himself.

"Hey, you okay if I join you?" asked Stella as she was now standing besides him in pyjamas and a dressing gown.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" asked Grimlock.

"Cant sleep, thought you might want some company" said Stella with a smile.

Grimlock signed as he knelt down and extended his hand to lift her onto his shoulder. Stella sat down and looked up at the star lit sky.

"So…this Magmatron, you know him?" asked Stella.

"Yeah, if he's the same person then he's a Decepticon Lieutenant. Led several raids on Energon Supply Facilities during the war, talented but cocky, still he had a lot of troops who obeyed him" explained Grimlock.

"So you fought with him?" asked Stella.

"It was me and the Dinobots who brought his whole operation come crashing down. It had to be us, if I had know back then how far he's go for glory" said Grimlock.

"You knew him before the war?" asked Stella with a bit of surprise, Grimlock nodded as he explained.

Before Dinobots existed we were the Lightning Strike Coalition, a band of Cybertronians who didn't take a side in the war, we just did what we could to survive. But before that I was a Gladiator in the arenas of Kaon, one of the top elite, the only one I never beat was Megatron. That's where I met Magmatron, like me he was a long time veteran of the arena and like myself never could beat Megatron. We became friends but also rivals, he must have faced off against one another or nearly 100 or more occasions, our fights were so popular they were known as the 'Titan' Matches. As the war broke out I convinced Magmatron we should go our own way and not get involved. That's when we formed the LSC, and with the rest of the team we were a six bot force to be feared.

What I didn't realise though was that Magmatron had been in contact with Megatron who offered him a position in the Decepticons. In exchange Magmatron revealed the location of an Autobot Shipment we were planning to hit. The Decepticons got their first and Magmatron sold us out. He revealed our HQ to Megatron, that led to me meeting Optimus and joining the Autobots. So when Magmatron was to be arrested I personally led the attack, just me and the Dinobots. And as he was carted off we both swore the next time we met one of us would finally fall.

"That's quite sad actually" said Stella, "to do that to someone who trusted you"

Her head dropped as Grimlock saw a tear drop.

"Still think about him?" he asked. Stella nodded.

"Listen Stella, I'm not one for mushy heart to hearts" said Grimlock, "but he's as good a man as your team mates say he truly is, he'll come around. That or I can punch him for ya"

Stella laughed.

"Thanks Grimlock, but there's a queue" she said.

"Come on, I'll take you back to base" said Grimlock as he walked back with her.

Unknown Location

Deep within a large complex that looked like a factory numerous Cybertronians were working on something big. Terrorsaur flew over into a separate area which was like a main headquarters section where a Large Purple T-Rex was looking at reports on a computer screen.

"Turantulas' Spy Cam has found the Autobots base" he reported.

"And your telling me this why?" asked the T-Rex, "I have teams all over this planet trying to find the Maximals. I have little patience for a small team of Autobots"

"But Sir, we have clarified one of them is Grimlock" said Terrorsaur. The T-Rex looked at him.

"Grimlock? Did you say Grimlock?" he asked, Terrorsaur nodded as the T-Rex began laughing.

"Shall I report to Magmatron?" asked Terrorsaur.

"No, he has more pressing issues. Have a team ready to go" ordered the T-Rex, "I'll handle this myself…yyyessss"

Inside his personal quarters a Cybertronian whose body seemed to consist of three forms of Dinosaur was staring at a screen showing the large thing that was being repaired.

"To think it was buried here all this time, soon I will have victory and then my conquest of Cybertron will begin" he said as he held in his hand a Dark Energon Cube.

"Remember the agreement Magmatron" said Cyclonus who was stood behind him.

"Of course" said Magmatron, "rest assured when this is over, The Predacons will serve Galvatron.

Next Chapter: Old grudges and new allies.