Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime: Chaos Hunters

by lyokoMARVELanime

Sequel to MSGSP:Destiny Sentinels. After many years of peace and joyful events, the Autobots and their human allies now find themselves facing their darkest hour, as they race across both of their worlds and through space in order to face the greatest threat any of them have ever known: The return of the Chaos Bringer is now upon us all.

21. Another Armada

AN: The war between the Autobots and Gundam pilots, and their enemies the Decepticons rages on, as they struggle to prevent the revival of the evil Unicron. If the Decepticons succeed in reviving the Chaos Bringer, then Galvatron, Le Creuset, and their demonic master, will destroy all life in the galaxy. The universe's only chance for survival, is for Optimus Prime, Kira Yamato, and the Autobots and Gundam team to destroy their enemies before it's too late, and now the battlefields have shifted. The Autobots and Gundam Team have now lost some of their strongest members to parts unknown, and those eight pairs of heroes must now face challenges and experiences unlike any they have ever seen before in a struggle to survive long enough for them to return home.

They have entered...

The Interdimensional Travelers Chronicles.

Kira: Uh, lyokoMARVELanime, what're you doing?

AN: Oh way to kill the mood, Kira. I was giving a cool little intro thing for both this chapter and the new arc of the story, and you go and do that!

Bumblebee: That still doesn't answer his question.

AN: Well given the universe that this take place in, I figured it would be nice to give a little intro like the ones that were done for that show back when it was still on the air, or at least like the show did in the English version. Speaking of which, if you readers can't figure out what Transformers universe this is by the end of this chapter at the most, then you either haven't been into the Transformers series for very long, or there is something wrong with you. No offense or anything, but it had to be said.

Athrun: No it didn't.

Cagalli: Hey you, you don't exactly get to complain seeing as your practically the main star of this chapter. I've got to wait for the sixth chapter in this arc until we get to my story.

Kira: Hey, you think you've got reason to complain? Optimus and I are the ones who have to wait until we reach the end of this arc before our chapter comes around, and that's only because...

AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits control]

Kira: [hears what sounds like an earthquake heading his way and immediately pales in fear] Please tell me that's not a horde of Kira fangirls.

AN: Nope, but it is pretty close to being just as bad.

Kira: [turns to see what's barreling towards him and then screams...] IT'S THE HULK!

Athrun: Actually, I think that's a Krogan, you know from the Mass Effect Trilogy?

Kira: I DON'T CARE WHAT IT IS! I JUST KNOW THAT IT'S TRYING TO KILL ME! [runs away like a little girl while the Hulk, or Krogan continues chasing him in a blind fury]

Cagalli: Seriously, what was that?

AN: Just a little teaser thing for my Avenging Normandy followers. I never actually thought I'd have to do that to Kira though, but the spoiler he was about to give away involves something that is way too important to reveal even the smallest detail of. So, while Kira's running for his life, let's roll out to the chapter!

Do I really need to tell you that first time appearance characters who will be part of the main story will have their name's in bold at this point?

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

---

Chapter 21: Another Armada

Location: Wherever Athrun and Smokescreen Are

Athrun could only cry out in pain as the anomaly's energy surged through his machine and body, and though the energy was not really all that painful after a moment, the mere shock of what it was doing was certainly enough to render that point moot. It even got to the point where he just barely registered Smokescreen and some of the other Autobots trying to save him and his fellow Gundam pilots before they were all sucked into the unstable vortex that seemed to be tearing the universe open at the seams. As he was flung through the vortex that had sucked them all in, Athrun got a small glimpse of the Diamond Akatsuki reaching out towards him and he quickly put what little focus he had left from all the spinning and shocking that he had now been subjected to in order to grasp the hand of his wife's Gundam. Sadly, it was all for not, as just when the two mobile suits' fingers had brushed each other, some invisible force whisked them both away from each other, and Athrun soon lost sight of everything when a flash of light suddenly forced him to shut his eyes as tightly as possible so that he would not end up blinded by it. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was the sound of the vortex around them and someone shouting.

Eventually, Athrun could feel himself regaining consciousness, though he was unable to tell for how long he had been out cold, but thankfully, he was kept from blacking out a second time when he heard a familiar voice from the outside of the Infinite Justice trying to wake him up. "Ath…Athrun…Athrun," the voice shouted until Athrun finally groaned to show that he was awake, much to the blue and yellow Autobot's relief.

"Smokescreen," Athrun moaned before he got a look at the unfamiliar surroundings they were in. "What happened? And where are we?"

"Couldn't tell you in regards to the second question, besides that we're in some kind of canyon or something," Smokescreen shrugged. "As for the first, all I remember is hearing something that sounded like a massive cannon being fired, a major flash, everyone shouting for us to retreat, and then me trying to keep you from getting pulled into that vortex before we both got knocked into temporary stasis." The young Autobot's face then grew serious before he asked, "Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah, I think so," Athrun replied as he ran his hands over his body to double check and make sure that he was not injured. Upon finding that he seemed to be physically fine, he then began running a check of his Gundam's systems before he added, "And it looks like the Infinite Justice is in one piece to, at least from my end."

"Well it definitely looks the same from this end too," Smokescreen informed his friend, and he then offered Athrun a hand to help sit the Infinite Justice up, which Athrun gladly accepted. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get in contact with any of the others. All I keep getting is static or just nothing at all."

Athrun was quick to try his own radio, quickly getting the same results as well. Seeing that their radios were not going to be of any help, Athrun immediately pulled out the Infinite Justice's keyboard and began rapidly typing as he said, "Hang on. I'm going to try and connect to Teletran One. Even if we're an entire galaxy away, I should be able to make even the smallest connection to let the others know that we're…"

Smokescreen did not like how Athrun just stopped what he was saying before he finished, but the Autobot found that he was unable to keep himself from asking, "What's wrong?"

"The codes aren't transmitting," Athrun revealed. "No, that's not it. It's more like they just stop transmitting before even trying to put a signal through for more than a few seconds. That usually means that the network is down, or that there's too great a distance between us and a nearby Teletran One terminal."

"Is that even possible," Smokescreen asked.

"You'd know better than I would, pal," Athrun reminded the Autobot as he put away his keyboard. "We'll have to try and think of something else in the mean time, but until then, we should try to lay low and…"

Athrun found himself interrupted by a loud explosion from close by, which immediately served to grab the attention of both of the young warriors. Seeing as they really had nothing to lose, the two immediately took off in the direction of the explosion until they eventually found themselves looking down on a valley where two different groups of Transformers seemed to be battling it out. A quick scan of the groups allowed the two to determine that the Transformers on one side were baring a Decepticon sigil, aside from one who also had an Autobot sigil on his chest with a large slash running through it, while the other group consisted of a group that were wearing that of the Autobots', save for one red and white Transformer who had the Decepticon sigil on both of the wings that extended out from his back. Seeing a battle between Autobots and Decepticons only served to confuse the two more than they already were, because if there were Autobots and Decepticons here, then they should have been able to send a signal to a Teletran One terminal due to the fact that nearly every Autobot base had one built in.

They shook off their confusion for a moment, as they soon realized that the Autobots down in the valley were starting to struggle in the battle, even after the red and white Decepticon that was fighting alongside them managed to fire a pair of laser blasts into the area of the Decepticons in an attempt to thin out the 'Cons' ranks a little. Seeing this made both Athrun and Smokescreen want to get into the action, but they knew that doing so recklessly would not be a good idea, because for all they knew, these two groups were not actually Autobots and Decepticons, but two entirely different groups of Transformers altogether who just happened to wear badges similar to the ones of the two Cybertronian groups, and Autobot regulations did state that making contact with unknown aliens was forbidden. The decision on whether or not they should help quickly ended up being unnecessary, as one of the Decepticons, who Smokescreen noted looked a lot like Cyclonus, suddenly broke off from the group and managed to swipe a small panel, and all attention was soon diverted to him as both sides started scrambling for the panel.

"Geez, those guys must really want that little piece of jewelry," Smokescreen commented.

"Considering who they appear to be, Smoke, I doubt that it's just jewelry," Athrun reasoned.

"So what should we do," Smokescreen asked. "I mean, I know we shouldn't interfere, but for all we know, those guys really could be Autobots and Decepticons fighting a battle that we didn't know about until now."

"Hard to really say, but I'd rather not take any chances. If those guys really are Autobots and Decepticons, then that means we can't let the 'Cons get away with that panel, whatever it is," Athrun replied after thinking for a minute. He then readied the Infinite Justice's arm blasters as he said, "I'll try to keep them busy. You get in close and swipe that panel away the first chance you get."

"You've got it," Smokescreen smirked in reply, and an instant later, he had transformed into his racecar mode and zoomed off towards the battlefield while Athrun blasted into the air. Bringing his scope forward to better align his first few shots, Athrun took a moment to carefully pick out his first targets, until the crosshairs on his scope blinked in confirmation that he had a full lock on some of the unknown Decepticons, giving Athrun all he needed in order to pull the trigger and fire his weapons.

What followed a minute later was a massive barrage of energon beam blasts from the Infinite Justice's arm blasters and shoulder cannons, and the supposed Decepticons were instantly raising their arms up in defense while scrambling for cover, while the Cyclonus-look-a-like was soon forced to come back down to the ground. When he saw the 'Con with the panel hit the ground, Smokescreen immediately took his chance and raced in before transforming into robot mode and running the rest of the way over. "Think fast," Smokescreen quipped as he spun around the Decepticon and slapped the arm holding the panel up, forcing said 'Con to relinquish his grasp on the object and let it fly into Smokescreen's other hand.

Seeing what the Autobot had done, the Decepticon snarled in response and prepared to fire on Smokescreen, but Smokescreen was too fast for the 'Con, as he had immediately activated his phase shifter and ghosted through the cliff face behind him just as the 'Con was raising his weapons. "Hey, what just happened," the confused Decepticon asked, making Athrun pause for a minute as he noted that the Cyclonus-look-a-like also sounded a little too much like the former Eradicon to be a coincidence.

"Cyclonus, you fool," the green, grey, and purple Decepticon with a pair of large horns shouted, confirming that he was the leader and telling the new arrivals who the Decepticon that Smokescreen had just evaded was. "How could you lose the Mini-Con so easily?!"

"You've got bigger problems at the moment, Decepti-creep," Athrun shouted as he brought the Infinite Justice into a hard dive, arming its twin beam saber as he went so that he could deliver a powerful double slash when he reached the Decepticons. The large Decepticon barely had enough time to move the cannon barrel on his back forward to try and shoot Athrun down, as the moment he had brought his weapon around, Athrun was already close enough and swinging his saber at the Decepticon, dealing a pair of slashes into the Decepticon's arm while simultaneously slashing off one of his horns.

"I don't know who you and your friend are, Autobot, but you will pay for this insult! Just you wait," the Decepticon roared. Athrun just prepared to launch another attack, but before he could even charge up his machine's thrusters, the air seemed to distort a bit around the Decepticons before they suddenly faded away before they vanished completely.

"…Uh, did we just win," Smokescreen asked as he finally stepped back out of the cliff he had ghosted into and deactivated the phase shifter.

"That we did, thanks to the two of you, friend," a deep voice answered, drawing Athrun and Smokescreen's attention to the various, supposed Autobots that had approached them. The red and blue one who seemed to look a lot like Optimus then stepped forward and said, "But before we can really give either of you any thanks, just who exactly are you two?"

Athrun and Smokescreen exchanged a look between the two of them, though one had to really wonder how they did so when the closest thing Smokescreen could see of Athrun's face at the moment was the face of the Infinite Justice, until Athrun finally directed his full attention at the Autobot leader and said, "Perhaps it would be better for us to discuss this back at your base, assuming you have one close by."

"Not a problem," the Autobot nodded in reply. "Red Alert, mission accomplished. Open the Warp Gate."

"The what," Smokescreen asked.

"Hold on a minute. Are you sure that's a good idea," the winged Transformer with a Decepticon sigil on his wings asked.

"Hey we let you into our base didn't we Starscream," a yellow and red Autobot asked, rhetorically. "Besides, one of these guys is clearly an Autobot, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

"Hopefully not, but we can't be too careful," a green and black Autobot with a pair of large treads for arms advised.

"Yeah well it'd still be better to do this at base than out in the open," a white Autobot with a red and gold head and a pair of large, grey wings extending up from his back reasoned. "Let's just get through the Warp Gate already and sort all this out later."

"Seriously, what's a Warp Gate," Smokescreen asked again, but the only answer he received was a sudden feeling of being stretched thin while being pulled into a different point. This was a feeling that Athrun was also experiencing, which was why he ended up joining Smokescreen in crying out in shock as they and the other Autobots suddenly disappeared from the area.

---

A minute after the group had vanished from the valley that they had been in they suddenly reappeared in a large, empty room that was colored dark blue with some hints of green along the edges. Athrun felt a little queasy at first, almost exactly like how he felt the first time he went through a Ground Bridge, but he was able to shake it off after a moment and join Smokescreen in following their hosts to their base's command center. As they traveled through the base, the two continued to glance around and they could not help but notice that the whole place seemed a lot like a modified, Cybertronian ship, much like how the New Iacon Base had started out as, but the thing that really got the two's attention was the other individuals walking with them that they had not noticed before.

Down by the other Autobots' feet, keeping a steady pace with their larger friends, were several different Mini-Cons of various designs, each sporting their own sigil that seemed to be in the shape of diamond with squares on each corner and what looked like a very decorative letter "M" on the inside of the sigil. In fact, there was at least one Mini-Con for each Transformer, with the number only increasing for the red and white one that the others had identified as Starscream and a white and black Autobot with a very large arm, each of which had four walking alongside them. The sight of so many Mini-Cons was actually quite surprising for Athrun and Smokescreen, as they had never seen so many Mini-Cons in one place before. Sure Blaster and Soundwave employed a small team of Mini-Cons each, but the numbers were never this great, so the two visitors had to wonder why it was that they had not seen so many Mini-Cons before now.

They would have to ask about such things later, as they soon noticed that they had just reached the base's control room, and all the other Autobots had now given them their full attention. "Let me start by thanking you again for your assistance in retrieving the Mini-Con, and saying welcome to Earth, Autobots," the red and blue Autobot began. "In case you were not already aware, I am Optimus Prime."

Smokescreen and Athrun were stunned now, but that shock quickly disappeared when they both found that they could not keep themselves from doing what they did next. They both burst out laughing like no tomorrow. This action confused each of the other Autobots in the room, if the confused looks they each wore were anything to go by, and after another minute or so, Athrun finally took notice of the fact and his laughter immediately died down. "Wait, you're serious," Athrun asked in surprise.

"Why wouldn't he be," the white and grey Autobot with large wings on his back asked.

"Because aside from the similar helmet design and the fact that he has the right color scheme of his armor, he's not Optimus Prime, and if this was Earth, we'd have been able to contact the rest of our team," Smokescreen replied.

"Maybe you hit your head or something during that battle, kid, because this is Optimus Prime, and every Autobot on Earth is in this room right now," the green Autobot with treads for arms remarked.

"No, we know Optimus Prime and the Autobots that have been posted on Earth, and not only have I never seen any of you on Earth before, but I've also fought alongside Optimus in two wars for both Earth and Cybertron, so I can tell you quite clearly that this guy isn't Optimus Prime," Athrun argued.

"Well you're both clearly messed up in the head," a blue and grey Autobot said. "None of us have ever seen either of you before, and there have never been any wars for Earth and Cybertron aside from the one we're in the middle of right now."

"Hey, I'd watch who you're calling a liar, soldier! This guy's not just any soldier, he's a war hero," Smokescreen snapped.

"Easy Smokescreen," Athrun told his friend in an attempt to get him to cool off, but he soon received quite a shock when one of the mystery Autobots replied to his words along with Smokescreen.

"Sorry Athrun/I didn't say anything," Smokescreen said at the same time as the white Autobot with a large arm, drawing everyone's attention onto the two in an instant.

"You know, last I checked it's kind of rude to answer for someone else," Smokescreen told the large-armed Autobot.

"I was just going to say the same thing to you," said Autobot replied. "What I want to know is how your friend even knows my name."

"He doesn't, and he was talking to me." Smokescreen was about to continue ranting, but he quickly managed to calm himself down and gave a small salute as he said, "Lieutenant Smokescreen of the Autobot Earth Division, at your service. I'm Athrun's Autobot guardian and partner."

"Wait, you're seriously saying that you're name's Smokescreen too," the large-armed Autobot exclaimed.

"Ever since I was created," Smokescreen replied, until the words he just heard sunk in. "Wait a minute, why would you be called Smokescreen? You don't even look like a 'Smokescreen'. If anything you more like a…hmm…What do you think Athrun? Hightower or Heavy Load?"

Athrun was a bit stunned that Smokescreen had managed to get them so far off track, but he figured he might as well indulge his partner if it helped calm down the intensity that was slowly building up and studied the Autobot in question before he replied, "I'm thinking Hoist, to be honest."

"Yeah, that's definitely it," Smokescreen nodded in agreement. "You look like a 'Hoist'."

The other "Smokescreen" looked like he wanted to say something in retort, but then paused and started to think it over until he finally smiled and said, "You know, I actually like the sound of that. Alright then, in that case, just call me Hoist from now on."

"Smokescreen, you can't be serious," the yellow and red Autobot moaned.

"Ah, ah, ah, buddy. You heard me. The name's Hoist now," the renamed Autobot stated.

Everyone just shrugged the strange scene that had just unfolded off after a minute before turning their attention back to more important matters when the Autobot who claimed to be Optimus looked to the Infinite Justice and said, "So now that we've established a way to avoid any confusion due to similar names, is there any chance we can learn your name?"

Athrun was a bit surprised to hear that, as he was sure that anyone from Earth or Cybertron would be able to tell who he was just by recognizing his Gundam. The machines were not really as much of a secret anymore, after all. Still, he figured it would become clear once he revealed himself, so he disengaged the machine's Phase Shift armor, letting the Gundam's colors change from their dark red and crimson to dull grey once he did, climbed out of his cockpit, and lowered himself to the floor using the boarding cable, only removing his helmet after his feet had touched the ground. "My name is Major Athrun Zala of the Orb Union Forces, a subdivision of the Sol Federation Forces. I'm also second-in-command of the joint Sol Federation-Autobot unit known as the Gundam Team," Athrun stated with all the regal procedure he gave whenever he introduced himself to other soldiers or diplomatic figures.

The strange Autobots that Athrun and Smokescreen were among held looks of surprise when they saw Athrun, and for minute, none of them said anything, until a blue and silver Autobot with a pair of guns on his back finally regained his voice and asked, "You mean…you're just a human?"

"Of course," Athrun replied. "How do you all not know about this stuff?"

"What stuff? A lot of what you two have said doesn't make any sense at all," a new voice suddenly said, and that was when Athrun finally noticed that he was not the only human in the room. Standing just a short distance away from Athrun, alongside a group of Mini-Cons, were three kids, two boys and one girl, none of which seemed to even be out of middle school yet. The boy standing at the front of the group, who had also been the one who had spoken up, had blonde hair and dark eyes, and wore a white shirt, a blue jacket, and tan colored pants. The other boy was clearly Hispanic, if one were to judge by his dark skin, and wore a brown shirt, a yellow jacket and blue jeans, while the girl seemed to be of Asian descent, and wore a red t-shirt and white jeans, while her brown hair stopped just short of the base of her neck.

When he saw the three before him, Athrun had to put a hand to his forehead and sigh, "Please tell me that there's a good reason why you have civilian kids here."

"Hey, don't go talking about us like we're not even here," the Hispanic boy snapped.

"The kids have been a very large help to us in our mission, and without them, we probably wouldn't have been able to help as many of the Mini-Cons as we have," the Autobot claiming to be Optimus explained.

"Even so, a military base is not a playground. I get that having them here would be a good way to protect them from the Decepticons, but they should at least have Autobot guardians," Athrun argued.

"Technically High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock handle looking out for us, so you don't have to worry about that, and besides, we normally just watch over the action from here at the base," the girl informed Athrun, indicating three of the closest Mini-Cons when she mentioned the three names.

"You'll have to excuse me if I don't feel all that reassured by the fact that your safety is overseen by a trio of Mini-Cons," Athrun remarked in heavy sarcasm. "And more importantly, why didn't any of you report this to Optimus Prime or at least one of the Sol Federation leaders when you first exposed them to your mission?"

"We didn't need to report it to Optimus because Optimus is right here, like we keep telling you," the white, winged Autobot retorted, clearly starting to get a little impatient if his tone was anything to go by.

Athrun was about to retort again when he suddenly thought of something he had not before. "What year is it," Athrun asked, only getting looks of confusion in reply. "It's a simple question: What Earth year is it?"

"2002," the first boy to speak up finally replied after a minute. "Why would that be so important?"

"Because last I checked, it should be Cosmic Era 77," Athrun replied.

"Are you saying you two are from the future," the girl asked.

Athrun fell silent for a moment, thinking over everything that he and Smokescreen just learned before he finally replied, "No, not the future. Another universe, entirely."

"What? Okay, now I'm starting to think you've lost it, Athrun," Smokescreen stated.

"Just think about it for a minute, Smokescreen," Athrun reasoned. "Remember what Sai said over the comm. about the anomaly we were sucked into? That it looked like a tear in the universe? What if that's exactly what it was? That would mean that we are in a completely different universe that, while similar, is still completely different from our own."

Smokescreen wanted to argue, but found that he could not, as there was just too much supporting Athrun's theory to really say otherwise. The fact that none of these people seemed to have seen a Gundam before, the Autobot who was claiming to be Optimus, another Transformer by the name of Smokescreen, the list just went on without end, really. Granted that it was still possible for there to be another Transformer who had the same name as him, but considering how rare that was to happen in the same life-cycle as another Transformer, Athrun's theory did tend to make more sense. After thinking it over for another minute, Smokescreen finally looked over at the Autobot claiming to be Optimus and said, "So I guess that would mean you are Optimus Prime, just not the one that we know."

"You don't seriously expect us to believe that, do you," the red and white Decepticon of the group asked.

"You can think what you want, but after all that I've lived through, it makes a lot more sense than you'd think," Athrun replied.

"Red Alert, is there any way that you can help prove or disprove Major Zala's theory," Optimus asked a red and white Autobot with a blue head, arms, and legs, and a red visor for eyes and a red laser cannon in place of his left hand.

"I can certainly try," Red Alert replied with a nod before bringing out a set of scanning equipment. As the Autobot in question did his work, Athrun took a moment to look over the other Transformers in the room, and quickly found a few more signs that they were likely in a different dimension. The most notable being that each of the Transformers seemed like they simply folded up into their vehicle modes as opposed to how Smokescreen and the Autobots he knew seemed to shift several different parts of their bodies around until it was almost impossible to tell what they turned into until one saw them actually transform. It actually made them seem a lot like they were met to have some kind of action figures for kids, in all honesty.

Athrun was stirred from his thoughts once again when Red Alert's scanner suddenly beeped, and he immediately turned to face the blue and white Autobot to see what he had to say. "This Smokescreen definitely has a lot of similarities in his CNA to be similar to us, but at the same time there are also a number of discrepancies that would easily prove that what they are saying is true, and I'm detecting a strange energy reading that can only come from passing through an anomaly that would be capable of transporting someone to another universe," Red Alert reported.

"So these guys really are from another universe then," the blue and silver Autobot asked.

"Yes. There's no doubt about it," Red Alert replied.

"Wow, that's awesome," the Hispanic boy exclaimed.

"He's very easily impressed, isn't he," Athrun chuckled.

"Trust me, you have no idea," the girl shrugged in good humor. "Oh, by the way, my name's Alexis, and that's Rad and Carlos. Nice to meet you, Major Zala."

"The pleasure's mine, and just call me Athrun, okay," Athrun replied as he shook hands with the three kids.

"Sure thing," Rad nodded in reply as he exchanged his handshake with Athrun. "Now we just have to introduce you to the other Autobots."

"I go by the name Scavenger," the green Autobot with treads for arms stated with a smile.

"Private Sideswipe, reporting for duty, sir," the blue and grey Autobot saluted.

"My name's Blurr," the blue and silver Autobot with guns on his back revealed, getting a pair of surprised looks from Athrun and Smokescreen, seeing as this Autobot was very different from the Blurr that they knew.

"You can call me Hot Shot, 'cause that's what I am," the yellow and red Autobot stated with pride, immediately showing the two just how much like their universe's Hot Shot this one was.

"And you can call me Jetfire, second in command of the Autobots," the white 'Bot with large wings revealed, once again surprising the two at how different this Autobot was in comparison to the version they knew of.

"And I'm sure we don't need to reintroduce me, Red Alert, or Optimus to you two, but that does leave the newest addition to our team," Hoist remarked.

Looking towards the only large Transformer who had not said anything, and the room's lone Decepticon occupant, the red and white flyer seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "My name's Starscream. Former Decepticon second-in-command until Megatron betrayed me."

"Wait, Megatron," Athrun exclaimed. "So you're Megatron is still…well, Megatron?"

"Well who else would old horn-head be," Hot Shot asked.

"Long story," Smokescreen groaned in reply.

"You seem to be taking the fact that a Decepticon is on our team quite well," Optimus noted.

"Let's just say that this isn't the first time we've seen a Decepticon working with the Autobots. In fact, before Smokescreen, I was actually partnered with a Decepticon that joined the Autobots," Athrun revealed. "His name was Dreadwing, and he was an honorable warrior, a good soldier, and a great friend."

"I take it that means he's not around anymore," Blurr commented.

"No, he's not. He gave his life to destroy a weapon that would've wiped out all life on Earth…uh, my Earth, I mean," Athrun revealed.

"I'm sorry to hear of your loss, Athrun," Optimus said in a voice that showed just how sad he was to hear this news.

"It's alright. It happened about six years ago or so," Athrun said. "More importantly, what was it that brought the Transformers of Cybertron to Earth here?"

"That's…actually my fault," Rad admitted. "You see, Carlos and I were checking out this cool cave I found one day when we fell into a large chamber and spotted a Mini-Con storage panel. I didn't know what it was back then of course, but the minute I touched it, it sent out a beacon to Cybertron that the Autobots and Decepticons quickly tracked to Earth. Believe me, Athrun; I never would've touched that thing if I knew it would start a war."

"Hey, it's alright," Athrun reassured Rad. "You had no way of knowing and there's nothing you can do to change that now. The only thing you can do is help build a better future."

"And Rad's been doing just that along with his friends ever since we first met them," Optimus explained. "As I said before, they've been a big help in rescuing the Mini-Cons before Megatron and the Decepticons could get their hands on them."

"What's the big deal about the Mini-Cons anyway," Smokescreen asked. "I mean, they do a lot back home, but you're making it sound like it would be the end of the universe if the 'Cons got their servos on them."

"In way, that's exactly what would happen, Smokescreen," Optimus stated. "You see, here in our universe, the Mini-Cons possess a special ability to powerlinx with larger Transformers and give that Transformer a great power boost, sometimes even allowing them to access special weaponry as well, and if Megatron gets his hands on the Mini-Cons, then he'll be able to use them to increase his power to unimaginable levels."

"Yeah, each of us is partnered with a Mini-Con, actually, but unfortunately, so are each of the Decepticons," Hot Shot said as he indicated the Mini-Cons that were still standing close to one of the various Autobots.

"So basically, this war is all about one side recovering more Mini-Cons than the other," Athrun asked.

"No, it's much more than that," Optimus immediately said. "We consider the Mini-Cons our friends too, and we don't want them to fight unless they want to do so. Though it is often said that the Mini-Cons possess a power that will eventually lead all Transformers to live in peace, and that's all the more reason why we must defeat the Decepticons, so we can free all the Mini-Cons from being their slaves and finally live in that peace together as friends."

"I see," Athrun nodded in understanding. It was a great relief to hear such a thing, as the idea of the Autobots forcing the Mini-Cons to fight with them like the Decepticons would was something that Athrun did not want to think about even in his wildest dreams. Shaking such thoughts from his mind, Athrun decided that it would be better to just get back on topic and learn as much about this universe as he could and worry about comparing it with his later.

---

A few hours later saw Athrun wandering around the base while Smokescreen helped the other Autobots work on the space ship that they were building for their return to Cybertron, and as he roamed, he found himself thinking over what the two had learned about the world they had found themselves in. Apparently, the Autobots outnumbered the Decepticons here, at least in terms of forces that were on Earth, and neither side had any Vehicons or other troops helping them in the fight on Earth. Not only that, but the Mini-Cons held a greater part in this war than just being power boosters for the larger Transformers, as Athrun quickly learned that three of the Mini-Cons formed the Star Saber in this dimension. That was quite the shock for Athrun and Smokescreen, a fact that they quickly explained to their hosts along with the reasons for why, but not as much as learning that there were two other teams of three Mini-Cons that also formed powerful weapons that were known as the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster. When Smokescreen heard about the latter combination, he quickly explained that there was a similar, legendary weapon back in their universe that was said to have been created by one of the Original Thirteen Primes, and after what had happened to draw them there, he felt pretty sure that it was part of what had opened the rift in the first place.

In all honesty, Athrun did not want to put any bets on that, mostly because Smokescreen admitted that it was mostly just a legend and there was no other proof that the blaster even existed in their universe, but it was also because of the fact that the Decepticons had the Requiem Blaster of this universe in their possession. Thankfully, the Autobots had managed to hold onto the Skyboom Shield without any trouble, but no one was afraid to admit that the only reason they did not have the Star Saber any longer was because Starscream was in possession of it when he made his escape from the Decepticon base and joined the Autobots. Athrun had to pause for a minute to give himself a small mental shake when he remembered that fact, because in all of his experiences with the Starscream of his universe, the idea of the spineless, underhanded Seeker willingly joining the Autobots in any lifetime actually came off as being completely unbelievable to him. Of course, it seemed like the Autobots of this universe were having a rather difficult time trusting the former Decepticon, if the small sideways glances they were almost always giving Starscream were anything to go by, and Starscream was not really trying to give them a reason to do otherwise with how often his feelings got the better of him. Athrun could understand this if it was his universe's Starscream, but this Starscream seemed like he was honestly trying his hardest to really join the fold. This was a fact that the Optimus Prime of this universe also seemed to recognize as well, as Athrun overheard the Prime of these Autobots saying that they should try to understand Starscream and come to an agreement on how to best work together, so Athrun figured that he may as well leave things as they were unless they got to a point where he really needed to step in.

Athrun was suddenly stirred from his thoughts when he heard what sounded like party poppers going off, and he quickly looked up to see that the noise seemed to be coming from inside the room that was just a few feet ahead. Walking over and then standing outside the door, Athrun peaked in to see Starscream, his Mini-Con partner Swindle, and the Mini-Cons that formed the Star Saber had just walked into a little surprise party that had been set up by the three kids and a couple of their other friends, who he figured were the boys named Billy and Fred that Carlos had told him about. Before he could wonder just what was going on, he heard the five kids suddenly say, "Thanks a lot for the presents Starscream!"

"I…don't think I follow," Starscream hesitantly replied in uncertainty.

"Thanks for the rock you brought back from Mars," Rad then elaborated, shocking Athrun with the news that these Autobots had apparently been to Mars.

"Yeah, we never really had a chance to say thanks, big guy," Carlos said.

"And Alexis figured we should throw you, ya know, a little appreciation party," Billy finished. Athrun could not help smiling at hearing how these kids were willing to do something so nice for the former Decepticon, even after he had no doubt had a part in nearly killing some of their friends in the past. Sure it was partially because Starscream had brought them rocks from Mars, but the fact that they were doing this at all was really quite nice to see, and served as proof that Starscream could be welcomed into the fold for this team. The sentiment was only made better when Alexis pulled something out from behind her back and held it out to Starscream.

"We made this for you," Alexis told the former Decepticon.

Athrun watched as Starscream hesitantly reached out and accepted the large, hand-stitched cloth, and then look it over before he finally asked, "So…what is it?"

"A hand-made, polishing shammy," Alexis explained. "You can use it to polish anything. Even Runway for example."

Starscream glanced over at the three, flying Mini-Cons as the excitedly beeped in the sounds of various computer noises, reminding Athrun a little of the way that Bumblebee used to communicate before he had his voice box repaired as they did, before he nodded in uncertainty once again, almost as though he were confused or just did not know what to do. This seemed to worry Alexis a little, as she soon asked, "Don't you like it?"

"Uh no, no! I wouldn't say that," Starscream denied. "I mean it's very…colorful…It's just that I've never had anyone give me a present before."

"You can't be serious," Fred cried out in disbelief. "What about on your birthday? You never got anything!"

Starscream clearly did not know how to respond to that, at least if what Athrun saw was anything to go by, so instead, he simply asked, "So what does one do in a situation like this?"

"All you have to do is say thank you," Alexis told Starscream.

"Thank you," Starscream softly said, as though he were testing it out before repeating the words a little louder. "Thank you…right?"

"Yeah," the five kids happily exclaimed with a small laugh, causing Starscream to sheepishly scratch his cheek in response. Athrun's smile quickly widened a little more as he watched the kids quickly run up asking Starscream about what it was like on Mars, but his mood quickly changed when Jetfire came in before Starscream could say a word and rudely asked the former Decepticon to take over on monitor duty, instantly souring Starscream's mood as well.

"I'll never get used to the Autobots' work ethic," Starscream moaned in annoyance.

"Well I could always do it for you if you'd rather stick around and tell them about Mars," Athrun said, deciding that it was time to make his presence known to everyone.

"Hey Athrun," Carlos called out excitedly. "Where'd you come from, dude?"

"I was just wandering around and trying to stay out of the Autobots' way after I finished running a little maintenance on the Infinite Justice," Athrun shrugged in reply.

"So you're the guy from another dimension with a giant mech," Billy asked.

"Uh…yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it," Athrun admitted.

"Wow, that's so cool," Fred exclaimed. "Is there any chance you could let us ride it in sometime?"

"Sorry, but I'd rather not risk letting you guys accidentally trigger the self-destruct," Athrun lightly joked in reply as a way to ease his nervousness in talking to these kids.

"Hey no big deal," Rad shrugged, though it was clear that he was also hoping to get a chance to see what it was like inside the Gundam as well.

The mood that had surfaced from Athrun's arrival was suddenly interrupted when Starscream asked, "Why would you want to cover for me like that? You've admitted to fighting Decepticons for a long time now, so why help me out?"

Athrun simply smiled and said, "I also admitted to being partners with a Decepticon who changed allegiances over to the Autobots, so I know how hard it probably is for you to adjust to how they work. It definitely helps if there's someone around that can help make it easier for you like these guys are trying to do."

Starscream seemed to let that mull over in his mind for a minute before he softly muttered, "All this teamwork talk is starting to make me go soft." He then stood up from where he was kneeling down and said, "Don't let me bother you with it. I'll handle the monitor duty stuff. Besides, I can always tell them about Mars another time."

"Well I'm sure they'll hold you to that," Athrun told Starscream with a smile, and the former Decepticon simply nodded in reply and then turned to leave, throwing the kids a small, unnoticeable smile just before he disappeared around the bend. Once Starscream was well out of sight, Athrun then turned to the kids and asked, "So how's that Mini-Con that Smokescreen and I helped recover doing?"

"It still hasn't woken up yet," Rad replied a little sadly. It was true, because ever since they returned to the base, the Mini-Con that Athrun and Smokescreen saved from falling into the Decepticons' hands had yet to emerge from the storage panel, and the panel itself simply remained completely quite aside from the occasional flash of light every now and then. "I mean, this kind of thing has happened before, but that was only with the Mini-Cons who formed weapons like the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster."

"So what if that's the case here," Athrun suggested.

"Couldn't be," Alexis argued. "High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock all made it pretty clear that there were only three Mini-Con teams like that, and that all the others should just wake up after their storage panels were recovered, or a Transformer allowed a Mini-Con to scan their image so that they could provide a stronger power boost when they powerlinxed with that Transformer."

It was clearly a puzzle for everyone here who had some experience with this universe's Mini-Cons, and to be honest, Athrun was not sure if he even had a place to really suggest any solutions to the matter. There was a chance that the panel was a fake, but that option had already been explored and dismissed when Red Alert and the other Mini-Cons confirmed that it was genuine. Such things would end up remaining a mystery for the moment though, as Fred decided to ask Athrun another question when he said, "So what're the Autobots like in your dimension?"

"Hey yeah, you and Smokescreen seemed pretty surprised when you heard the names of some of the Autobots," Carlos remembered. "Are some of them Decepticons where you're from or something?"

Athrun paused to think for a minute before he decided that there was probably no harm in telling the kids a few things and said, "Well, Scavenger is part of a Decepticon team known as the Constructicons in my dimension, but aside from that, all the other Autobots are still Autobots where I'm from. To be honest, I was actually more surprised with how different they were personality-wise compared to their doppelgangers from my dimension."

"Oh yeah, like who," Billy asked.

"Well the best example would actually be Blurr," Athrun explained. "You see, in my dimension he isn't this cool, calm, collected warrior like your Blurr is. He's actually this really fast, and often really hyper guy who almost never shuts up. He can make the simplest report drag on forever, and the fact that he talks so fast makes it all the more annoying."

That got a laugh out of the kids, and soon enough, Athrun was telling them more and more about the differences between his dimension's Autobots and the ones in this dimension, with the kids hanging onto every word he said as he did.

---

Some time afterwards saw Smokescreen replicating his human partner's actions by wandering through the base. It was not that he was slacking off or anything, but it was more that he was not able to be as much of a help to the Autobots of this dimension as he thought he could be, at least in the way of helping them to build their space ship. There were just so many differences in the technology from what he was used to for him to really be able to adapt as quickly as they needed him to, so he figured he might as well find some other way to help out. The only problem was that he did not really know what he could do to help so he ended up just wandering around feeling rather useless, a feeling he had not experienced in a long time now. Eventually, he ran into Athrun and told him as much, but the only advice his friend gave him was to simply hang in there a little while longer, and that they would be able to start looking for a way back home before he knew it, that is assuming their friends back home did not find a way to get them back first.

This did serve to comfort Smokescreen a little, and when he overheard Carlos telling his friends to forget about tomorrow and just be happy about today before he, Rad, and Alexis left to take the Skyboom Mini-Cons on a walk outside the base, it helped lift his mood a little more until he heard someone screaming out in confused irritation. Running to the source, it did not take long for Smokescreen to find Starscream practicing with his wing-sword, and while Smokescreen was no expert in the area of sword fighting, it was still clear to him that there was something bothering Starscream and keeping him from really focusing on his training. Smokescreen figured that this was better than nothing in the way of helping out and walked in as he asked, "Think you could stand a sparring partner?"

Starscream just glanced over at Smokescreen for a minute before he swung his sword a few more times, saying, "I'd much rather practice alone right now."

"Come on. I may not be much of swordsman, but I bet I'm still a lot better than whatever invisible opponent your fighting is right now," Smokescreen encouraged.

Starscream then paused in his slashes to look over at the young Autobot before he finally shrugged and motioned Smokescreen over, saying that Smokescreen could use the Star Saber for this if he wanted. Smokescreen nodded in thanks and then watched as Sonar, Runway, and Jetstorm combined together into the white and blue saber sword while jumping into his hand, and then after taking a minute to get a feel for this dimension's version of Prima's legendary blade with a few practice swings, Smokescreen nodded to Starscream in order to show that he was ready. Starscream returned the nod with one of his own and then charged forward to test out Smokescreen's reflexes with a sword. After a minute or so, the two were having a very easy spar, with Starscream becoming pleasantly surprised at how well Smokescreen was doing despite his admission to not being much of a sword fighter. When the two clashed their blades again, Smokescreen took the opportunity to ask, "So, want to tell me what's bothering you?"

"What makes you think something's upsetting me," Starscream retorted as he parried the swing that the young Autobot threw at him and countered with a swing of his own.

Smokescreen barely dodged the blow and was soon on the defensive once again as he replied, "Oh I don't know. The irritated scream I heard earlier might've been a big clue, and I heard you were supposed to be a really good swordsman."

"What's that got to do with anything," Starscream questioned after he finally found an opening in Smokescreen's guard and used it to try and land a blow to Smokescreen's side.

Smokescreen managed to avoid the blow at just the last minute and then explained, "Because even I could tell that your practice swings from earlier were really off, and that kind of thing only happens to someone if something is bothering the person in question. So what's up?"

Starscream clashed his blade against the Star Saber and then held it there for a minute before he finally sighed in defeat and lowered the blade. "I had a run in with Thrust just outside the base a little while ago. You probably don't know who that is, though."

"Let me take a wild guess," Smokescreen offered. "Transforms into a jet, has a cone-shaped head that leads a lot of people to call him things like 'Squid-Head', and is supposedly a great tactician even though most of his plans don't usually follow through for one reason or another?"

"Yeah. He's Megatron's right-hand man now, but how'd you know all that," Starscream asked.

"There was a Thrust that was just like that back home, except he was actually a former Decepticon that joined up with a group called the Eradicons. I used to be part of the Autobot team that was hunting them down before I joined up with Optimus's group. I found out later that he died during one of the final battles of the war that took place a few years ago," Smokescreen explained. "Anyway, did you manage to chase him off?"

"Well…kind of," Starscream admitted, though he was not sure why he was telling Smokescreen this. After taking a minute to think about it though, he figured it was probably because Smokescreen was from another dimension so he was technically a third party in this conflict, and he then went on to explain, "You see, he wanted to make me a deal. He said that if I bring him the Skyboom Shield then he would help me be welcomed back into the Decepticons' ranks."

"And you told him to shove it up his tailpipe, right," Smokescreen asked.

"Well…that's actually where the problem stems from," Starscream finally revealed. "You see, part of me actually does want to return and eventually get back at Megatron for how he betrayed me, and that part can recognize the fact that it would be easier to do so from within, but another part of me says I shouldn't because I'd be better off here, even though the Autobots don't trust me. It's all making me so confused and the attachment I've started to form with those kids is making it all the harder to really decide for certain what I want, so I don't know what the right decision is anymore."

Smokescreen just let Starscream vent his frustrations, taking in everything that the flyer had told him, and when Starscream finished, he could gave him an understanding smile and said, "You know, I was actually in a similar position to yours once."

"I highly doubt that, kid," Starscream retorted.

"No really," Smokescreen insisted. "There was a time in my life when I wasn't sure what side I should be fighting for too. You see, the last war that Earth and Cybertron were involved in has become known as the Terrible Autobot Civil War, and that was because two different groups of Autobots were actually fighting with each other in a full-scale war. On one side were Optimus Prime and the Autobots that had saved Earth from being destroyed by Megatron and the Decepticons, while on the other side, you had the Autobots who followed Optimus's predecessor, and a fallen Prime known as Sentinel Prime. I actually started out on Sentinel's team, and for a little while, I believed that he was fighting for the right reasons, but when he suddenly declared that Optimus and his team were now our enemies, I quickly began to feel a sense of doubt growing. Maybe it was already there, but that action was what caused it to become real."

"So what did you do," Starscream asked, hoping he would not be upset by the answer

"I didn't do anything for a while, but eventually, something happened that made me realize that what Sentinel was doing was not what I wanted to happen. I joined the Autobots because I wanted to help make things better, and all Sentinel was doing was throwing things back into the chaos that was around before our war with the Decepticons began. So after that incident, I joined Athrun and another soldier in leaving Sentinel's cause and joined up with Optimus's team. I haven't regretted doing so ever since," Smokescreen finished.

"So you're saying, I should stay with the Autobots," Starscream asked.

Smokescreen wanted to say that was exactly what Starscream should do, and if it were a few years ago, he would not have hesitated in doing so, but he knew that would just be pushing his own idea onto someone else, so instead he said, "I'm saying that you should do what you think is best. It would be cool if you stayed with the Autobots, and I know a lot of people in this base would be happy about that too, but if it's not what you really want, then I can't force you to stay."

Starscream let that sink in before he finally nodded and placed his sword onto his back, letting it fold up into his left wing, saying that he was going to head up to the control room to speak with the others. Smokescreen was a bit concerned about what Starscream was going to do, so he quickly followed after the flyer with the Star Saber Mini-Cons hot on his heels, and managed to catch up just as Starscream walked into the control room where every Autobot other than Optimus was already gathered, and from where he was standing, it did not look good for Starscream.

"What do you mean Thrust told you to bring the Skyboom Mini-Cons to the Decepticons' lunar base," Jetfire demanded. "Don't tell me you've double-crossed us!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Starscream protested.

"But you do admit that you saw Thrust outside our base, right," Blurr pointed out.

"I just knew this would happen," Hoist snapped before Starscream could say anything, and that was all Smokescreen needed to hear before he stepped in.

"Hey, calm down," the young Autobot snapped before racing into the room and standing next to Starscream in order to show his defense for the former Decepticon. "Don't go pointing fingers just because of something he told you."

"Stay out of this, kid," Hoist snapped. "If it was just that then we wouldn't be pointing fingers at all, but the problem is that I can't find the Skyboom Mini-Cons anywhere, and right now, I can only see one possibility of what could've happened to them."

"What're you talking about? The Skyboom Mini-Cons are fine. I just saw them leaving to go on a walk with the kids," Smokescreen revealed.

When the other Autobots heard that, they all had the decency to look sheepish over how quick they were to accuse Starscream of betraying them, and for a moment, no one said a word until Hot Shot stepped forward and said, "Hey sorry about that Starscream. We shouldn't have jumped right to the idea of accusing you like that."

"It wouldn't be the first time it's happened to me," Starscream shrugged like it was no big deal. "Besides, I'm a Decepticon. It's in my programming, and that's all the reason any of you would need to not trust me."

"You mean you were a Decepticon," Hot Shot argued. "If you were still a Decepticon, then you wouldn't have saved me from being blasted apart by Megatron when we invaded the Decepticon base, and you wouldn't have convinced the Mars Mini-Con to fight back against Tidal Wave so that you and Jetfire could save him. If anything, I'd say that you've more than earned the right to be called one of us."

Starscream did not know what to say at that point. He was fully expecting Hot Shot or one of the others to agree with him and say that he was right in his believing he was a Decepticon, and yet, the yellow and red Autobot had insisted otherwise. It really amazed him how willing Hot Shot was to trust him, especially given how things between them started off when he first came to join the Autobots, but before he could really comment on it, Optimus suddenly entered the room wondering what was going on. "Sorry Optimus. We noticed that the Skyboom Mini-Cons were missing, and when Billy and Fred told us that they saw Thrust outside our base insisting that Starscream deliver the Skyboom Shield to their lunar base, we sort of jumped the gun in thinking that Starscream had taken them. At least until Smokescreen explained that he saw the kids taking them out for a walk earlier," Sideswipe informed their leader.

"I see," Optimus nodded in understanding. "I am sorry that everyone was so quick to judge you Starscream."

"That doesn't matter right now," Starscream protested. "I doubt Thrust really left the area completely, and if the kids are outside the base with those Mini-Cons, then they could be in danger. We have to get them back here, and fast!"

"Don't worry, we will," Optimus said, but before he could order anyone to go anywhere, the base's alarm went off, drawing everyone's attention to the main monitor just as Athrun had come in wondering what was going on.

"The Decepticons are heading this way," Scavenger announced to everyone.

"Autobots, move out and intercept them," Optimus ordered.

"Hold on," Starscream shouted, getting everyone to stop before any of them had set one foot out the door. "Megatron and Thrust aren't there with them. It's just Demolisher, Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, and Wheeljack."

"And why does that matter," Jetfire asked. "They're still coming after us so we've got to hit them before they hit us."

"No, this is one of Thrust's tactics," Starscream revealed. "He's hoping to use this battle as a chance for him to meet with me so I can tell him of my decision, and if it isn't what he wants it to be, he'll use the battle to try and convince me to do what he wants, all while everyone else is too busy fighting to even notice."

"And you're sure that Thrust is somewhere out there," Optimus asked.

"Positive," Starscream nodded.

Optimus seemed to roll this information around in his head for a minute until he finally looked up and said, "Then we'll let him think that you're giving him the answer he wants. I have a plan, but it's going to rely pretty heavily on you, Starscream."

"What," Starscream gasped. "Isn't that…a little risky, given how little everyone here trusts me."

"Maybe, but I trust you to make the right decision Starscream, and that's enough for me," Optimus said, and when Starscream heard the Autobot leader say that, he stared at Optimus in wide-eyed surprise for a minute before he finally nodded in understanding and moved to join the others in heading out to meet the Decepticon invaders.

"What can I do to help," Athrun asked, causing the Autobots to pause once more.

"Sorry Athrun, but I can't ask you or Smokescreen to join us in this fight," Optimus said.

"What? But we can help you guys," the Gundam pilot protested.

"I know Athrun, but the fact is that this isn't even your universe, let alone your fight, and I can't ask you to help us fight a battle that you have nothing to do with," Optimus reasoned.

"The Autobots are fighting the Decepticons so that everyone can live in freedom and peace. Seems a lot like the fight I've been involved in for about six years to me," Athrun pointed out.

"All the same, you weren't meant to be involved in our war, and besides, you have your home to get back to, and I won't take the risk of preventing you from doing so by allowing you to end up sacrificing yourself for our cause," Optimus explained.

Smokescreen looked like he wanted to protest, but Athrun just raised a hand to his friend and then looked Optimus straight in the eye and said, "Alright. I understand. I don't like it, but I understand where you're coming from. We'll remain here as a last line of defense, if necessary, but the minute we think that you need our help, we will be joining you out there, whether you like it or not."

Optimus nodded in acceptance of this deal and then turned so that he could finally lead the Autobots into the battle that was about to break out right at their front door. As they were leaving though, none of them ever noticed how the Mini-Con storage panel seemed to be reacting to Athrun's presence, nor did they even see when Athrun noticed this for himself and adopted a thoughtful expression as a result.

---

In no time at all, the Autobots were fully engaged in battle with the Decepticons, and they were able to gain an early lead in their offensive when Jetfire knocked Cyclonus out of the sky. Sadly, it did not last, as Demolisher and Tidal Wave quickly fired everything they had on the lone, Autobot flyer. It was actually a bit of a wonder why Decepticons like Wheeljack were even on the battlefield right now, at least until he suddenly transformed and started firing on the Autobots so that they could not try to retaliate against Tidal Wave, forcing the heroic Transformers to take cover before they could even attempt any retaliation. Watching all this from above, while completely invisible, was none other than Thrust, and he could not help but give a mental chuckle over how well his plans were proceeding. All he needed now was for Starscream to show up and start calling him out, and the Decepticon tactician did not have to wait long, as the former Decepticon soon came bursting up through the clouds in his jet mode.

"Transform," Starscream cried out as he shifted into robot mode, and not a minute later, the Star Saber Mini-Cons powerlinxed together, forming the powerful sword in his hand once they had. "Thrust! Show yourself!"

Thrust did not hesitate for a minute to drop his cloak so that he could fully appear before the Decepticon traitor, and the minute he did, he instantly asked, "Have you made your decision, Starscream?"

"I have, Thrust," Starscream replied confidently. "I think I'll stay put here with bots I can trust."

"You disappoint me, and you'll live to regret your decision," Thrust warned. "Starscream, I fully understand your desire for revenge against Megatron."

"You don't understand anything about me, Thrust," Starscream scoffed in reply. "I'll get my revenge because I have the tools to get the job done, so out of my way, or I'll slice you in half, you pathetic snake."

"Oh you talk a tough game," Thrust mused in a faugh-impressed tone. "Name your price, Starscream. Join forces with me and together we can take down Megatron! I too am a warrior on a mission; I aspire to lead the Decepticons to victory, and yet one obstacle remains in my way. A thorn, if you will and I intend to pluck it!" When Starscream did nothing to attempt to join him, Thrust went on to ask, "Why are you resisting my offer? You know there is strength in numbers, Starscream. So shall we unite and bring down Megatron together?"

"Why should I believe that you would want to bring down Megatron," Starscream asked. "You've always been his most loyal supporter, so what could possibly have changed that?"

Thrust honestly did not know what to say at that point, as he knew he could not tell Starscream his real reasons for betraying Megatron, but he knew that wouldn't matter soon enough. He would eventually find an opportunity to divert Starscream's attention away from that, and the battle below them would be just the thing to do that. All he needed to do was look down and find the right thing to grab Starscream's attention and help the seed of doubt that he had already planted in Starscream to grow even stronger.

---

Meanwhile, the Autobots were getting pounded away without mercy by Tidal Wave, who was still remaining in the air in his vehicle mode, and at that point, Optimus felt that he had enough of this aerial assault from the massive Decepticon, and he immediately turned to his second in command. "Jetfire, let's link up," Optimus shouted.

"Ready when you are, Optimus, sir," Jetfire nodded in reply, and a second later, the two had jumped into the air while Jetfire tossed his rocket-engine cannon and shield onto Optimus's back, forming a make-shift jetpack for the Prime to use in order to fly up a little ways. After flying after his commander a little ways, Jetfire transformed into a large pair of legs, with his wings folding down to sit on either side of the legs, and Optimus quickly followed up by changing into a large torso and casting the rocket-engine cannon away, leaving the shield to act as an extra set of white body armor, while his legs became the shoulder and arms and extended a pair of yellow hands out. As soon as the two were perfectly lined up with one another, the torso that was originally Optimus connected with Jetfire's transformed body, and a blue head with a yellow battle mask and horns, and red optics extended up from the top of the body, while Jetfire's blaster landed in his large, yellow hands.

"Jet Optimus, ready for action," the titans shouted in Optimus's voice before he used the rockets on his feet to blast off into the sky until he was above Tidal Wave. "Let's get busy!"

---

Back in the base, Athrun's eyes had immediately widened in awe when he saw what had just happened, and for a moment, he found that he was unable to speak. When he finally regained his voice, he was barely able to stutter, "Optimus…can combine…with Jetfire!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh," Billy asked. "We were all pretty amazed when we saw it happen the first time too, although it was way cooler then since they did it in mid-air above the ocean."

"Yeah you should've seen how Optimus tore through all the Decepticons on his own when he did it the first time," Fred added in excitement.

Athrun could only nod in reply to the two before he turned back to the monitor just in time to see Optimus blast Tidal Wave out of the sky with a powerful shot from the cannon that was normally used by Jetfire, and he had to smile a little when he heard Optimus's voice on the radio say, "It's time to sink you for good, Tidal Wave."

"I still can't believe that this universe's Optimus is so much more open with his emotions than my universe's, let alone that he would actually give one-liners like that," Athrun mused aloud, inadvertently remembering how freaked out he and Smokescreen were when they heard this Optimus openly laugh out loud.

"Well what's your Optimus like," Billy asked, honestly curious about that when he heard Athrun's comment.

"Pretty much the same as this one, except he's more in control of his emotions to the point he almost never smiles unless he's among people he trusts, or his wife, Elita One, and a lot more…monotone," Athrun replied.

"Wait, your Optimus is married," Fred asked in surprise.

Athrun had to smile at how amazed these two were about the things he was telling them about his universe, as they seemed more excited about it all than the other three were, but he quickly schooled his own emotions so he could focus on what was happening outside the base, right at the moment when he saw Tidal Wave finally transform into robot mode at last. When he saw the massive Decepticon on the monitor, Athrun was honestly a bit shocked at the sight, and he noticed that Smokescreen seemed to be a little shaken, but they both quickly relaxed when they noticed that this Tidal Wave was actually not that much bigger than Optimus and Jetfire were while they were combined. If Athrun had to guess, he would say that the two combined Autobots were probably tall enough to reach the middle of this Tidal Wave's chest at most, and that seemed to put them at ease a little more for the moment.

---

Thrust continued to look down on the battle from above, mentally shaking his head a little when Tidal Wave was knocked out of the air by Jet Optimus Prime and then lost track of Hot Shot after the high-speed Autobot managed to land a blast in Tidal Wave's eye, and he was soon beginning to think that he could hold off on answering Starscream's last question for much longer, until he finally spotted the chance he had been looking for. That chance came in the form of Hot Shot racing across the battlefield while evading enemy fire with the Skyboom Shield in hand, until he finally reached Hoist. "It seems your friends have found what they were looking for," Thrust chuckled to Starscream, only to succeed in getting Starscream angry.

"I've had enough of you," Starscream growled before he swung the Star Saber at Thrust, but the sneaky tactician merely leaned back to avoid the blow as though it were barely even worth the effort.

"Why are you angry at me," Thrust asked. "I only wanted to form an alliance with you. We both want Megatron destroyed, but why do you insist on working against me?"

"How about we start with the fact that it doesn't make any sense as to why you would want that to begin with, along with the fact that I just can't stand you and go from there," Starscream shouted as he swung the powerful sword at Thrust again, only for Thrust to avoid the blade just like he had before.

"The decision is yours," Thrust then told Starscream. "You can either become soft and forget your glorious heritage, or you can join me, and if you decide the latter, it is only a matter of time until we drink from the cup of victory! Choose, but I suggest you choose wisely." Starscream said and did nothing in reply, and that served as a sign that Thrust was starting to get to him, so he pressed on by adding, "Your childish blathering annoys me, Starscream. You are a Decepticon! Now act like one!"

Starscream and Thrust just stared each other down for another moment or so, until Starscream noticed what the sign the moment he had been waiting for out of the corner of his eye and then lunged forward to deliver a hard punch right into Thrust's face before he dived down towards the Skyboom Shield that was hurtling towards Optimus. As he watched Starscream moving to intercept the shield, Thrust could only chuckle with glee at the sight of how his plan seemed to have been a success, never even entertaining the idea that he could be wrong.

---

From another perspective, it would seem that Starscream fully intended to keep Optimus from receiving the Skyboom Shield that Hoist had just thrown to him. It would also seem that Starscream was giving into his roots as a Decepticon and taking Thrust up on his offer. It would seem as though Starscream would end up betraying any sense of trust that he had gained from the Autobots after all the time he had spent trying to earn it while working with them. Thankfully, this was not the case, as the minute Starscream had the Skyboom Shield in his hand, he flew over Optimus and dropped the Star Saber into Optimus's waiting hand while shielding the Autobot leader from the laser storm that Tidal Wave was now raining down on them both with the powerful defense of the Skyboom Shield. A minute later, Starscream got in as close as he could, powerlinxed with Swindle, and fired his null beam cannons directly into Tidal Wave's eyes, temporary disorienting the massive Decepticon long enough for Starscream to slam the shield directly into Tidal Wave before he blasted away and allowed Optimus to swoop down on Tidal Wave with a powerful slash from the Star Saber.

"Nice work Starscream," Optimus complimented his teammate with a smile.

"I just hope I don't miss seeing the look on Thrust's face when he realizes just how greatly he had been duped," Starscream smirked in reply as he raised the Skyboom Shield up to block the enemy fire that was now coming from the other three Decepticons.

Thankfully, Starscream did not need to wait long for his wish to be granted, as Thrust quickly appeared a minute later, so completely stunned by what had just happened that he could barely even stutter, "W-what are you doing, Starscream?! Get the Star Saber back and then bring both it and the shield back to the lunar base at once!"

"I guess you weren't listening earlier, Thrust," Starscream quipped. "I said I'm staying with bots I can trust, and I have no intention of doing otherwise. Now back off and leave before I make you."

"You mean before we make him," Hot Shot corrected as he came up to stand alongside Starscream with a smile and his blaster primed and ready to fire on the cone-headed Decepticon, who continued to splutter in disbelief at how grandly his plan in getting Starscream back with the Decepticons had failed, much to every Autobots' amusement.

Sadly, that amusement did not last, as a minute later, Starscream was suddenly hit by a surprise attack from the side and the Skyboom Shield quickly fell from his grasp before he hit the ground with a hard thud. Looking up to the shield, Starscream ended up being faced with the barrel of the large cannon that Megatron was aiming directly at him with a condescending smirk. "You know in all honesty, I never really expected Thrust's plan to work," Megatron admitted. "After all, I always knew you were an utter fool who let his emotions get the better of him and intended to take me out so that you could take over the Decepticons, but I thought that there would be no harm in letting him at least try to get you to see reason, Starscream." When his former second-in-command said nothing in reply, Megatron looked up to Optimus and chuckled darkly as he said, "Now Optimus, you will do as I say. Hand over the Star Saber and let us leave with the Skyboom Shield, or else this traitor here will pay the long overdue price for his actions right here and now."

Knowing that there could only be one reason for Megatron to want those six Mini-Cons, Starscream immediately found no reason to keep silent any longer and immediately shouted, "No don't do it Optimus! I'm not worth saving, so just forget about me and finish him off!"

"Forget it, Starscream! You're an Autobot, same as the rest of us, and we're not going to sacrifice anyone for anything," Sideswipe immediately snapped.

"Yeah that's right," Hoist agreed. "We stick together no matter the cost."

When Blurr, Scavenger, Hot Shot, and Red Alert all voiced similar agreements, Starscream honestly did not know what to think. Just a few minutes ago, all these different Autobots seemed willing to just throw him into the nearest star because they thought they could not trust him, and now, they were calling him one of them and saying that they would not let him sacrifice himself for them. It gave him a warm feeling that he never thought he could experience, but that was all the more reason for Starscream to simply ignore their pleas and shout, "Don't any of you get it! There's only one reason why Megatron would want only those six Mini-Cons, and I know that you each know what that is. He likely intends to harness that power that was unleashed when all three Mini-Con weapons were about to be used at once when Jetfire and I encountered him in Mars's orbit, and if he is able to do that, there's no telling what he'll do!"

"Oh I don't think it would take much imagination to figure it out, Starscream," Megatron chuckled in reply. "Now, if you are quite done with your stalling, I'd suggest you keep quiet and let Optimus hand over the Star Saber so that I can leave with both it and the Skyboom Shield."

At that point, Starscream had to smirk in response before he asked, "And what makes you think that you even have the Skyboom Shield at all? Dirt Boss, Downshift, Mirage! Now!"

Megatron did not know what happened, but one minute he was standing within arm's reach of the shield, and the next it had split into the three Mini-Cons that made it up, which then immediately raced away and back over to Hoist where they combined back together once more. Infuriated by this sudden tactic, Megatron was more than ready to blow Starscream's head off, but Starscream beat him to the punch by firing his null beam cannons directly into Megatron's face, giving him the chance to blast away from his former leader before the Decepticon could recover. "What just happened? When did you…" Megatron demanded.

"I had Swindle separate from me for a few minutes so that he could speak with the Skyboom Mini-Cons and tell them to wait for my signal for them to separate and get back to safety," Starscream revealed as the little, red and black race car Mini-Con in question moved to sit up on his shoulder. "That whole time I was telling the others to forget about me, it was all just to serve as a way to keep you busy while he did that."

"Nice thinking," Hot Shot complimented.

"Well I can't take all the credit. It was actually the same idea you tried to use when you were trapped on the moon with us to keep the Star Saber from falling into Megatron's hands," Starscream admitted to Hot Shot.

Hot Shot had to smile a little sheepishly in response to that, knowing full well about the time that Starscream was talking about, but the good mood was quickly soured when Megatron managed to stand back up again and roared in anger over the humiliation he had been dealt before turning to the largest of his warriors. "Tidal Wave, combine now!"

Tidal Wave just leapt into the air and then transformed and separated into three, small vehicles as he flew towards his leader. Megatron's torso then lifted up a bit, allowing the gun turret on his back to swing around to his front, with all of the guns moving to point forwards as Leader-1 powerlinxed with him, and a second later, the three transports that Tidal Wave had split into latched onto both of his arms and his back, giving him a massive shield on one arm, a large artillery gauntlet on the other, and a massive jetpack on his back. Once the combination had been completed, Megatron lifted up into the air as he declared, "And now I will make you all suffer!"

The Autobots could do nothing more than scatter for cover once again as Megatron and his reinvigorated forces rained fire down upon them all, making sure that there was nothing any of them could do in order to help any of their comrades without risking the likely chance that they would end up like Swiss Cheese as a result.

---

"Oh man, the Autobots are getting creamed," Billy cried out as he watched the team getting pounded by the Decepticons' assault.

"What do we do Athrun," Fred moaned, but when he received no answer, he quickly turned to where the Gundam pilot had been standing, only to find that Athrun had disappeared. "Hey Billy, where did Athrun go?"

Billy turned around to see what his friend was talking about, only to see no sign of Athrun anywhere in the room. A minute later, the base's alarm started going off, and the monitor suddenly changed from the battle outside, to the launch gate, where the Infinite Justice was standing, powered up and ready to move out, with its pilot seated in the cockpit. Before either of the two boys could say anything, Athrun's voice suddenly came over the intercom as the Gundam pilot said, "Do you two know how to operate the launch gate from there?"

"Well Alexis showed us how to in case of emergencies once," Billy admitted. "Why?"

"Because I need you to warp me directly above Optimus's current location," Athrun explained.

"What? But Athrun, if you go out there into the middle of that, you'll be torn apart," Billy protested.

"Don't do it! I'm begging you! Please," Fred pleaded.

"This is not up for debate," Athrun snapped, silencing both boys instantly. "I've got to get out there, now. Smokescreen's already headed out to back them up, but if I don't get out there at just the right time, then it won't matter what he does. Please, you have to trust me."

Neither of the two said anything in reply for a minute, but eventually they moved over to Alexis's computer and prepared to activate the Warp Gate. They were both very glad to see that Athrun had already managed to program the landing coordinates for them, as they were certain that they would not be able to do so themselves, and though they were still hesitant to send Athrun out into the middle of the nightmare that had developed, they still ended up telling Athrun that they were ready on their in. As soon as they had, Athrun gave them the order to activate the Warp Gate, and it was merely a second later that the transport system came to life, displaying the image of where Athrun would be traveling to directly in front of him while he felt the same sensation he felt the last time he used the Warp Gate overcoming him. Before he vanished into the Warp Gate, Athrun gave one final statement that seemed to ease Billy and Fred's nerves a little more.

"Athrun Zala, Infinite Justice, launching!"

---

Optimus and Starscream were both gritting their teeth in agitation and in an effort to ignore whatever pain they had endured from the hits they had recently taken, as they each had attempted to break cover and hit the Decepticons with anything they could give. Unfortunately, their efforts were wasted as every Decepticon immediately focused all of their fire on them the minute they rose up from behind the rocks they had taken cover behind, forcing them to take cover once more before either of them suffered any serious injury. The worst part of it all was the fact that they had exposed their location to Megatron, and he was now more than happy to have Thrust give the order to end the two at last.

"Now Starscream, it's time for you to pay for your treachery. Cyclonus deliver the final assault," Thrust shouted.

Cyclonus immediately cackled in reply, showing just how happy he was to carry out that order, and immediately began lining up his targeting sensors to fire the final shot that would end both Optimus Prime and Starscream once and for all. Before he could get a proper lock though, the world suddenly began to distort near him, and he was quickly seeing dark red as the Infinite Justice appeared above both him and his commanding officers. "Thrust, Megatron! Up there," Cyclonus shouted in warning.

While Megatron paid the warning little mind, due to how confident he felt whenever he combined with Tidal Wave, Thrust immediately looked up and saw the Infinite Justice barreling towards him with its right arm pulled back, ready to strike. "Remember me," Athrun shouted as he descended closer to the cone-headed Decepticon.

Thrust did not respond to Athrun's question and simply elected to evade the Gundam's attack by changing to jet mode flying away after he shouted, "Transform!"

Do the Transformers of this dimension always shout that when they transform, and if so, why, Athrun wondered to himself, but all the same, he figured that it would not hurt to follow the old saying of when in Rome, do as Romans do, and immediately hit the controls to change the Infinite Justice into jet mode as well as he shouted, "Transform!"

After he had said that, the Gundam rolled out of the swing it had thrown at Thrust and flew away in its jet mode, firing on any Decepticons that fell into its crosshairs as it went, much to Demolisher and Wheeljack's irritation. "Who is this guy," Wheeljack demanded as he readied his staffs to fire a few blasts at the Infinite Justice, but he was quickly forced onto the defensive when a barrage of energon blasts suddenly struck him.

"He's just one of the guys who are quickly becoming bad news for you and your pals, 'Con," Smokescreen quipped as he raced onto the battlefield with his Energon Bow still firing. When Wheeljack saw him, he immediately opened fire on the young Autobot from another dimension, only to receive a shock when the blasts went right through Smokescreen without doing any damage. Seeing the stunned look on Wheeljack's face, Smokescreen only smirked and said, "Awe, too bad. You can't hit me, but I can hit you."

Smokescreen was now close enough to blast Wheeljack at point-blank range, but before he could even charge up a shot, Wheeljack suddenly vanished from sight. Smokescreen was completely thrown off by this sudden move, but he managed to recover just as Wheeljack reappeared behind him an instant later to try and hit him from behind. "Looks like you weren't fast enough," Wheeljack mocked in reply before he vanished again to try another sneak attack.

Wheeljack's efforts did not succeed though, as this time, Smokescreen saw it coming, and spun around to fire a shot from his Energon Bow that hit its mark the minute that Wheeljack reappeared in its path. Once the former Autobot was down, Smokescreen walked over and glared down at both him and the scarred Autobot sigil on his chest before saying, "Be glad I didn't do any more damage to your chest than you've already done to it, because you don't deserve that sigil."

Smokescreen then moved away to get to cover and shut off his phase shifter, glimpsing the Infinite Justice as it flew past him. Just before it had flown out of hearing range, Smokescreen found himself unable to keep from shouting, "Go for it Athrun!"

Cyclonus did not seem to hear the Autobot from another dimension, as he had placed all his focus on trying to hit the Gundam that had thrown him off earlier, and soon managed to get a solid lock on Athrun before firing with all of his guns and those of his Mini-Con, Crumplezone's. Athrun immediately evaded the blast, but as he did so, he let something jump out of his cockpit and then fly back around to him. When everyone got a closer look, they saw that it was a Mini-Con that had taken on the vehicle mode of a smaller, blue and gold version of the Infinite Justice's vehicle mode. Athrun then switched his machine back into Gundam mode and shouted, "Let's do this! Powerlinx!"

The Mini-Con did not hesitate to obey Athrun's order, and immediately linked up onto the back of the Infinite Justice's large backpack, causing the machine's power to suddenly surge to new levels and finally be able to access the mystery function that had puzzled Athrun for so long now. The minute Athrun activated the control for said function, the cannons on the Infinite Justice's backpack ejected themselves from their position and extended a blade from their barrels before landing in the Infinite Justice's waiting hands. Though it seemed that Athrun would have to use them as swords at first, when the cannons landed in his machine's grasp, the Infinite Justice had actually ended up holding them as though they were sleek, bladed rifles. Athrun then spun his machine around and decided to take his new Blade Cannons for a test run by trying one of them out on Cyclonus. After pulling the trigger to fire one of said cannons, the blade of it seemed to spark with electricity for a minute before firing a powerful blast that knocked Cyclonus out of the air in an instant.

"Looks like Cyclonus goes down just as easily in this dimension as he did the first time back home," Athrun joked to himself, only for a series of beeps and blips to respond, reminding him that he was not really on his own at the moment. "Well I suppose you do have a good point," Athrun shrugged to the Mini-Con that had spoken, and he then turned his machine towards the other Decepticons so that he could confront them as well.

"What just happened," Megatron demanded when he saw Cyclonus go down.

"Was that the Mini-Con we just recovered in the last mission," Starscream asked.

"I think so, but how did Athrun manage to wake it up, and get it to powerlinx with his Gundam," Hot Shot questioned in reply.

No one had much of a chance to add anymore questions on the matter, as the Infinite Justice was closing in on the two combined Decepticons. As he drew closer, Athrun's Blade Cannons suddenly became alight with energy again before a pair of massive beams that were nearly the same size as the beam sabers he used when his machine was docked with a METEOR sprung forth from the blades of his weapons. Athrun then swung one of these massive beam sabers at Megatron, forcing the Decepticon to stumble a great deal after he tried to block the blow his large shield, and leaving Megatron open for when Athrun swung his second, large beam saber down on Megatron's back. The blow immediately sent Megatron flying across the battlefield, and when he finally hit the ground, the loud crash that followed made it clear that Megatron was not likely going to be getting back up.

With Megatron dealt with, Athrun quickly turned to the last Decepticon on the ground and charged in, prompting Demolisher to fire everything he had at the Infinite Justice in desperation. "You keep away from me," Demolisher tried to threaten Athrun in an attempt to hide his fear, but it ended up being all for not, as Athrun soon had lifted Demolisher up into the air after catching the Decepticon on the blades of his machine's newest weapons. "Help! He's got me! Put me down! Please, let me go! I hate heights!"

"You hate heights, and yet you work with the Decepticons; a group who's majority of its members are guys who can fly," Athrun questioned Demolisher.

"Just let me go, please," Demolisher continued to beg.

Athrun seemed to think about Demolisher's request for a minute, until he finally shrugged and said, "Okay. If that's what you want."

When he heard Athrun's response, Demolisher quickly realized his mistake and tried to prevent Athrun from doing what he was planning to do, for what little good it did. "No, no, wait! I was only kidding! Don't drop me! NOOOOOOOO!"

After Demolisher hit the ground below with a hard thud, everyone's attention was immediately brought to the crimson red Gundam that had singlehandedly defeated nearly all of the Decepticons on its own as it just floated in the air with its new Blade Cannons held down at its sides. Of course, not everyone was paying attention to Athrun, and it was a good thing too, for Starscream's lack of attention on the Infinite Justice allowed him to see a very injured Megatron preparing to fire the Requiem Blaster at the Gundam. Thinking quickly Starscream immediately blasted towards Athrun as he shouted for Hoist to send him the Skyboom Shield, with the large-armed Autobot granting the request a minute later. When Megatron fired the powerful gun, the blast only served to collide with the Skyboom Shield and create a massive burst of energy that served to blind nearly everyone, giving Starscream, Red Alert, and Hot Shot just the opening they needed to finish things.

"Swindle, powerlinx," Starscream shouted as he lowered the Skyboom Shield, and his cry to his Mini-Con was quickly followed by Hot Shot and Red Alert doing the same.

"Jolt, powerlinx!"

"Longarm, powerlinx!"

An instant later, the three Autobots were all armed with the special weapons that their Mini-Con partners allowed them to access, and they fired everything they had on the downed Decepticon leader, with Optimus doing the same with his own blaster an instant later after having Sparkplug and Cometor powerlinx with him. At that point, Megatron could tell quite well that the battle was lost, and he immediately ordered his troops to retreat. Once the Decepticons had all vanished through their Warp Gate, Optimus looked to Athrun and Smokescreen and gave them both a nod of thanks for their help in winning this battle in their victory.

---

A short while later, the team had all returned to base with everyone celebrating their victory and Athrun's success in awakening the previously sleeping Mini-Con, who had now assumed his robot mode and was standing next to the Gundam pilot. Looking at the Mini-Con, everyone could see that the wings from its vehicle mode served as large arm shields, while the thrusters and back of its jet mode extended down to form its legs. Its head held had a pair of small, squared horns on top while its eyes were a bright green color that shined like emeralds, while its mouth was hidden behind a gold mouth guard. While it was great to see the newest Mini-Con was no longer sleeping in its storage panel, there was still one question that was unanswered.

"How did you manage to get it to wake up," Rad finally asked Athrun, voicing the question for everyone in the room.

Athrun looked around at everyone in uncertainty before he finally shrugged and said, "I don't really know. I just felt like it was calling out to me, and somehow I knew that I had to be the one to bring him out."

"Well you don't hear us complaining," Sideswipe grinned in reply. "So what's his name?"

"You mean you don't know," Athrun asked.

"Well we don't really remember every Mini-Con's name until after they've joined our team, and with so many of them, it's sometimes a little hard to remember who's who aside from our own partners and the most well-known Mini-Con teams like High Wire's," Scavenger informed Athrun.

Athrun was not sure what to tell them, because he had not discovered the new Mini-Con's name either, but thankfully, said Mini-Con came to the rescue and trilled something to him that Athrun somehow managed to understand and translate as he revealed, "He says his name's Blast Blade, but can someone tell me how I'm able to understand him when I can't understand any of the other Mini-Cons?"

"That's actually pretty normal," Optimus revealed. "Every time a Transformer personally reawakens a Mini-Con, they form a kind of mental link that allows them to understand what that Mini-Con is saying better than any other Mini-Con. That is why I'm able to understand Sparkplug's words better than any other Mini-Con, or how Hot Shot can with Jolt, and so on."

"Makes about as much sense as anything else we've encountered in this dimension," Smokescreen shrugged in acceptance.

Athrun could not help but chuckle in response to that, but soon had his attention directed to Blast Blade again when the Mini-Con suddenly spoke to him once more. After listening for a few minutes, Athrun's eyes widened in shock, and he quickly asked if Blast Blade was sure about what he had said, only for the Mini-Con to give a few beeps of affirmative in reply. "What is it? What did Blast Blade say, Athrun," Starscream asked.

"He says that when Smokescreen and I finally find a way home, he wants to come with us," Athrun said. "Would that be alright?"

Optimus and the others looked between themselves in silence for a minute, unsure of how to respond, until High Wire beeped something to Rad. When the blonde boy nodded in reply to his friend, he turned to the others and said, "High Wire says that whatever Blast Blade wants to do is fine with him, Grindor, and Sureshock. After all, Blast Blade is one of them, and it's really Blast Blade's decision in the end."

The Autobots all smiled and nodded in response to this answer, before Optimus turned to Athrun and said, "Well there you have it, Athrun. Blast Blade is more than welcome to return to your dimension with you, but remember he's your partner now and not another tool, so make sure you look after him. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Athrun saluted with a smile, getting a few laughs and cheers from the others in response. Eventually though, the celebrations came to an end, and the Autobots all returned to their regular work, with Starscream saying that he would join them in just a moment before he walked over to Athrun with a questioning look on his face.

"Do you think I made the right decision," Starscream asked the Gundam pilot once he had reached him.

Athrun smiled and said, "I think that's something only you can know. A friend once told me, that power is whatever one makes of it, and that maybe I am a soldier, but above and beyond that, I'm still Athrun, and I think the same thing could be applied to you as well. No matter what you decide, you're still Starscream, so don't ever forget that."

Starscream smiled in thanks to Athrun for his words and then stood up to leave, but just as he reached the door, he looked back and asked, "What makes you so sure you'll find a way back to your home?"

"Because if I don't find it here, then I know that my friends who are still there will be able to find a way to get me and the others home," Athrun replied in confidence. "None of them have ever let me down before, and I doubt that they're going to start now. After all, we're more than just a team. We're like family."

Starscream nodded in reply to that and then left to help the Autobots in their work, determined to show that their decision to trust him was not the wrong one, leaving Athrun alone with Smokescreen, his newest partner, Blast Blade, and a silent prayer for his friends to come through for him again.

---

Teletran I, Intel Report:

File Designation: Transformer Gundam Specifications

Warning: Files Are Incomplete and May Have Corrupted Data

Extrapolating...Displaying Data on Currently Completed File. Other Files Pending

File ID: ZGMF-CX19A Infinite Justice Gundam

Pilot: Major Athrun Zala of the Orb Military, Gundam Team SIC

History: Successor to the MS known as ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam, this machine is the second machine in the CX Mobile Suit series, following the ZGMF-CX20A Strike Freedom Gundam. Like the Strike Freedom, it was deployed before being fully completed during the Battle of Orb in the Second Bloody Valentine War, alias Terrible Autobot Civil War.

STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS:

Energon Reactor Core

Artificial T-Cog: A device that was developed to allow mobile suit units to stand on equal ground with the Transformers, the prototype of which had been developed by Blue Cosmos thanks to assistance from Starscream during the First Bloody Valentine War. For more development data, see File Designation: Artificial T-Cog Development. It provides the Infinite Justice with a pair of arm blades and arm blasters as default weapons like all Gundams and mobile suits of the CX series. Upon completion, the Artificial T-Cog also granted the Infinite Justice the ability to assume a vehicular alternative mode, otherwise known as an alt. mode, after scanning a vehicle like other Transformers.

Arm Blades: the default close-range weapons of the Infinite Justice Gundam, which can most closely be described as being similar to the arm blades of Optimus Prime before his reformatting.

Arm Blasters: default long-range weapons utilized by all MS's of the CX series, the Infinite Justice's blasters can most closely be compared to that of Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime.

Alt Mode: F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. This alt mode was selected by Major Zala as a way to honor the memory of his late, former Decepticon friend, Dreadwing.

OTHER NOTABLE ARMAMENTS:

"Super Lacerta" Beam Sabers: Holstered on the skirt of the Infinite Justice, these beam sabers were included by default as all mobile suits of the Gundam Class typically carried such weapons. The two beam weapons are able to combine together to form a twin-edged sword.

Beam Carry Shield: A physical shield mounted or carried on the Infinite Justice's left arm with is equipped with a beam shield generator and is typically used to carry a beam boomerang.

Beam Boomerang: Typically mounted in the MS's shield, this weapon can function as a beam boomerang that acts well both in space and the atmosphere or as a handheld or shield mounted beam saber.

Fatum-01: Typically known as the backpack of the MS, it serves as a flight pack in the atmosphere while carrying additional weapons such as the most notable pair of Beam Cannons that the unit typically uses for long-range combat situations. This feature can also be separated from the Infinite Justice and act on its own due to its AI system or via remote control, providing a separate support unit or a sub-flight unit.

Blade Cannons: A recently discovered feature due to Athrun's travels to an alternate dimension, these weapons can only be activated one Athrun commands the Mini-Con Blast Blade with the Infinite Justice. These weapons were originally believed to be nothing more than the pair of Beam Cannons mounted in the Fatum-01, but when active, the two cannons both detach from the Fatum-01 and then each extend a long blade from the nozzles of the cannons. When held by the MS, they are typically held like a pair of rifles, however, they have been shown to operate as melee weapons. When fully powered, the Blade Cannons have shown that they possess the same capabilities as both the large beam swords and arm-mounted beam cannons of a METEOR Unit, allowing the Infinite Justice to have the most powerful aspect of the METEOR's arsenal without the extra weight and added limitations to mobility that a METEOR Unit would bring.

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AN: Well that's a wrap for the first chapter of the Interdimensional Travelers Chronicles arc, and in case you haven't figured it out by now, this chapter took place in the world of Transformers Armada. The fact that the Autobots and Decepticons were seeking out the Mini-Cons and Starscream was a major part of the Autobot team should've been a big give-away for all that, and if you'll also notice, I made a few references to other episodes from the Transformers Armada series.

Cagalli: Speaking of which, it looks like most of this chapter actually took place during one of those episodes.

AN: That's because it did. Namely, the episode in which...well I doubt I need to tell anyone who knows Transformers Armada which episode this chapter draws inspiration from, and unlike that episode, Starscream did not return to the Decepticons, but instead, remained with the Autobots. Yeah, like we haven't all wanted to re-write that moment so that it happened differently. As for what happens in this version afterwards, well that's up to your imaginations.

Smokescreen: So why give Athrun a Mini-Con?

AN: Ah, I was wondering when someone was going to bring up the topic of Blast Blade. Simply put, the character in question is an OC I came up with specifically for this story, and the reason he's in here...well do I really need to remind everyone? It's so that Athrun can use that mystery function that was first mentioned a few chapters back. You see, the reason I'm doing a bunch of chapters that tell of what happen to our heroes as they experience these other worlds is not just for the heck of it, but also because they will also be gaining new experiences and powers that will make them better as warriors and people. For Smokescreen, this was helping him find someone he could relate to when it comes to his past, while Athrun gained the ability to use the Blade Cannons, and yes, I am calling them that, and I have no intention of changing the name, no matter how cliche it may sound. If you don't like it, then that's your problem. The reason why Blast Blade was needed to activate that function is because, as you'll recall, Athrun said that he was getting an "insufficient power" error every time he tried to use it on his own, but in the Armada universe, the Mini-Cons provide the larger Transformers with a power boost that allows them to use certain weapons that they normally couldn't use without the Mini-Cons. Make sense to everyone now? Good.

Moving on, don't think this will only apply to characters that were in the same situation as Athrun, namely Lunamaria, because every character from the Gundam side of things at least will be getting a new ability by the time this arc is over. What those abilities are, you'll just have to wait and see, and maybe even draw up ideas based on whether or not you can figure out where we're going next from the preview, otherwise, [in a sing-song voice] I'm not telling!

Lunamaria: So are we going to another Transformers world next chapter?

AN: Nope, next chapter features another world from the Gundam multi-verse. Readers, if you're able to figure out what world that is, please don't give it away by guessing in a review. You wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone who can't figure it out, would you? Speaking of which, Onto the Preview!...

The interdimensional adventures continue on with Shinn and Bulkhead, as the two friends find themselves in a world of Gundams unlike anything they would have ever expected. How can someone say that fighting is not always a bad thing, and what more could a warrior need to drive them to fight besides a reason to protect and save others? These are questions that are filling Shinn's mind the longer he stays in this world, and it would seem that it would take a man who's fists burn with a true warrior's soul to lead him to the answer, while Shinn aids that same man in his quest to save those he cares about. Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime: Chaos Hunters…Chapter 22: Warrior's Soul. Grand Destiny, follow the loud roar that tells you to grasp victory!

I don't know if it's possible, but I think I can't make it anymore obvious where Shinn and Bulkhead are going to end up next chapter.

Athrun: Uh guys, I think Kira's still being chased by...whatever it is that lyokoMARVEL set on him.

AN: Oh, yeah I should probably go take of that. Why is it these things always seem to go out of control nowadays? Any who...

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