Optimus turned his head to face the sound of the horn, smiling beneath his battle mask when he saw the vehicle that produced it: a white and blue car carrier with red accents. A fuschia and pink motorcycle with a matching side-car, a blue Formula-1 racer with white accents, and a teal-gray pickup truck accompanied the big rig.

Megatron, noticing Prime's distraction, kicked the Autobot leader off of him and stood back up, drawing his Energon Swords in hopes of striking a killing blow. Before he could, though, the car carrier charged at him, knocking him back onto the ground before transforming, revealing the familiar form of Ultra Magnus. Again, Megatron got back on his feet, aiming his Fusion Cannon at the former Elite Guard Commander with a confident smile on his face. "You could barely hold your own against me when last we met, Ultra Magnus. What makes you think you can defeat me now, when even a fraction of the Power of Primus flows through my circuits?"

The fuschia-and-pink motorcycle transformed, revealing itself to be Elita One. "For starters," the Guardian spoke as she drew her Energon halberd, "he's not alone!" The femme's eyes glowed green as she called upon the power from his shard to power up her own weapon, which she thrust into his side with all her might, successfully piercing through his armor. "Secondly, you're not the only one who can draw power from that shard. As Guardian of the Heart of Cybertron, I have forged a connection to it that you have not!" Elita concentrated harder, calling upon the power of the shard once more to boost Ultra Magnus' strength.

"Thanks for the boost, Elita," Magnus smiled before delivering a punch to Megatron's chest strong enough to knock him backwards and put a dent in his armor. Magnus followed up with another punch, pushing the Decepticon leader back further. He then proceeded to take a few steps back before firing his shoulder rockets at Megatron, knocking him onto the ground and blowing a hole in his chest armor that exposed the Heart of Cybertron shard within.

'Hold him down, Magnus," advised Elita One. "I'll handle the rest." The Heart Guardian shuttered her optics and began concentrating on the exposed shard while Ultra Magnus pinned the struggling Decepticon leader down. Slowly, the shard in Megatron's chest began to wiggle its way loose and float out, making its way to Elita's outstretched hand, causing Megatron to growl in frustration as he kicked Magnus off of him and fired on the Guardian with his Fusion Cannon, denting her midsection by not breaking her concentration.

Once the shard made its way to Elita's hand, she clutched it tightly and Subspaced it before drawing her halberd and pointing it at Megatron's chest, her optics narrowed in determination. If she had to, she wouldn't hesitate to strike the killing blow. "I would advise that you retreat now, Megatron," she threatened, her death glare intensifying. "Refuse, and I will end this here and now."

Megatron's optics widened ever so slightly, revealing a bit of fear mixing in with the tyrant's fury. He looked around, his lips curling into a sinister grin as he grabbed hold of Ultra Magnus by the neck and dragged the Autobot Lieutenant in front of him. "Will you still dare to finish me now, Elita?"

Elita lowered her weapon. Like Prime, she had come to regard Ultra Magnus as a close friend, despite the reduced amount of time she got to spend with him. She couldn't bring herself to even risk harming him in a bid to finish off Megatron, who cackled wickedly before firing a fully-charged Fusion Cannon blast at the femme's chest, knocking her backwards and creating a large dent in her chestplate. As the Spark-mate of Optimus Prime pulled herself back up, Megatron callously tossed Ultra Magnus aside before charging at Elita and tackling her to the ground and wrapping both his powerful hands around her neck. "Now, it is my turn to offer an ultimatum," the Decepticon leader growled. "Either you return my shard to me, or I crush you into scrap metal!" He tightened his grip on her neck to emphasize his point.

Unfazed, Elita simply gritted her teeth and raised her halberd above her head, spinning it until it produced a powerful wave of energy that blew Megatron off of her, allowing her to get back on her feet and point her weapon at Megatron's chest again. "I would sooner go offline than relinquish any part of the Heart of Cybertron to you, Megatron! I'll give you one final chance to retreat. I suggest you take it!"

"Very well," Megatron replied before transforming into his tank mode and driving away, "but do not think that this is over. There are still other shards of the Heart of Cybertron scattered across this pathetic mudball of a planet, and I will find them!"

"Whereever you find them, you'll also find us," Elita retorted before running to Optimus' side. Ratchet was already tending to his leader's wounds, causing the femme's lips to curl into a small smile. She knew Ratchet to be a great medic, having seen him save countless lives before being called away to guard the Heart of Cybertron. She gently grasped Prime's hand, which slowly curled around hers as the Autobot Leader began to come to.

"E-Elita One," Prime strained out, still weak from his injuries, "it's good to see you."

"Same here, Optimus, although I wish, once again, that it was under more peaceful circumstances."

"Did you...get the shard?"

"Yes, I did. Ultra Magnus and I managed to beat Megatron back for now. I'll keep this shard with me. If Megatron wants it back, he'll have to take me offline for it, and I promise I won't make that an easy task."

Optimus chuckled a little. "It must be that determination to do what is right that afforded you guardianship of the Heart."

"Just as your qualities made you worthy of the Matrix," Elita smiled back.

Kup and Blurr soon joined the femme at Prime's side.

"Hey, doc," spoke the ever-energetic Blurr, "is the big guy gonna make it? He looks pretty slagged."

"He suffered some pretty serious injuries, which I'm currently patching up. Thankfully, Magnus and Elita intervened before he received any fatal wounds. I have no doubt Megatron was fully intent on killing him."

"That crank-bustin' son-of-a-Scraplet can't be allowed to get another one of those shards," commented Kup. "I don't even wanna think about him with the whole Heart."

"I will gather the shards," Elita volunteered. "My connection to the Heart of Cybertron allows me to sense its presence, even when it's in pieces. That's how we found you, Optimus."

"You will no doubt be facing the entire Decepticon army, Elita," a concerned Magnus spoke up. "You're gonna need some backup. I'll go with you."

"I'll go too," added Blurr. "If Megs wants to swipe a shard from me, he'll have to catch me first. Besides, someone's gotta keep Ultra Magnus from putting the moves on Prime's femme," the speedster teased.

"Young bots," Kup grumbled. "Always gotta find some way to grind their elders' gears..."

"True," agreed Ratchet. "You can't live with 'em, but you can't melt 'em down for spare parts."

"Well, we should roll out now. Megatron may be licking his wounds, but he'll be after the other shards soon enough. I have a feeling we'll meet again though," Elita said as she transformed back into alt mode and started her engines, causing the other three Autobots to follow suit.

As the quartet rolled out, Optimus breathed a sigh of relief as Ratchet continued his repair work. He thought back to his first encounter with Andrea and the other humans. He also tried to envision what the end result of Project Skybolt would be like. All the while, the thought back on Alpha Trion's words. "On each world the conflict touches, you will find allies who will give you the strength to overcome the trials ahead." The Autobot leader smiled. The humans have already proven themselves invaluable with their knowledge of Earth and its technology, and he could only hope that Project Skybolt would create something just as helpful.