57- Prey.

The huge creature had four legs with sharp claws, a head with horns followed by a long neck, its body had two large wings and a long tail and expandable jaws: it looked like a cybertronian dragon. The Decepticons' reaction was different: Megatron smirked, Soundwave, as always, didn't say anything, but seemed surprised, and Knock Out, Starscream and his Seekers were terrified by the creature, which roared like every dominant reptile would do.

"A…a Predacon?" Skywarp identified.

"They-they've been extinct since the beginning of cybertronian history." Thundercracker mentioned.

"Indeed. But the specimen you see before you was breed in a laboratory." Shockwave revealed as he rubbed the Predacon. "Cloned from fossilized remains which I discovered on Cybertron."

"Shockwave, it does my spark good to see you once again. Tampering with creation." Megatron said as he got up from his throne and walked at the creature.

"Master, please, keep your distance!" Slipstream advised.

"No need for alarm. The beast is completely under my control." Shockwave reassured.

Megatron stood up close, face to face and looked at the Predacon. "Such primal magnificence."

"Sir, your order as you requested." A D-wing droid reported as a LR-57 combat droid delivered to Shockwave a recognizable canister.

"A sample of energon from Wheeljack. Spilled during the Autobot's failed interrogation." Shockwave said as he held the canister up to the beast.

The Predacon looked at it and scanned the energon, locking onto Wheeljack's genetic signature.

"Let the hunt begin." Megatron declared. "Use one of our ships to transport the beast to its destination. Then, let it follow its instincts."

The creature branched out its wings and took flight. It roared before it landed inside the hangar of a Bulkwark Mark II battle cruiser.

"The creature is aboard." A droid reported to the bridge.

And immediately, the ship jumped to hyperspace. Meanwhile, Han and the Wreckers were looking at the entrance of a cave.

"Guys, you know I'm all for blowing the scrap out of the stuff, but what is flattening a Decepticon mine have to do with getting the band back together and taking down Megatron?" Han asked.

"Simple: when we light up this place, the Cons will have to send one of their new big ships to investigate what happened after not receiving news from here." Wheeljack started.

"And we will take the chance to board it so we may use it to locate our comrades after taking down all droids. Cause we have a great pilot right here." Bulkhead ended.

"Then bring the rain." Han nodded.

At the same time, inside the Harbinger…

"Mainframe's up and running." Aris reported stepping on some buttons. "But I'll need help packing the operating codes."

"Even if the ground bridge proves functional, it would be next to worthless without a means of pinpointing the current location of our compatriots." Ratchet pointed.

"(Why not just track their life signals?)"

"Yes, that could work." Cliff supported.

"Use your heads, fellas. If the Decepticons had the ability to track Autobot life signals, we'd all have been at Megatron's mercy here on this galaxy a long time ago." Ratchet explained.

"Ah, back where we started." Leia sighed.

Then Ratchet came up with something. "But not if I can reconfigure these Decepticon frequencies. At the very least we may be able to access their com-link."

Meanwhile, Arcee and Sky were still impressed to see the new Autobots.

"No one seen or heard from you two since Cybertron went dark. How did you find your way to this galaxy?" Arcee asked.

"Soldier, we may not be on Cybertron, but the military protocol remains." Ultra Magnus responded firm.

"My apologies, sir." Arcee said as she straightened her posture and stood up straight.

The other female Autobot chuckled. "Come on, Magnus. There's no need for that rigid formality."

"Sir? Excuse me, are you some kind of Autobot officers?" Sky asked.

"Affirmative. I see the native lifeform knows how to speak properly to a superior." Ultra Magnus answered.

"Huh, Arcee, who are these two?"

Arcee bent down to him. "Ultra Magnus was Optimus's key lieutenant during the war back on Cybertron. Buried by the book, just go with it. And Elita One is the leader of all female Autobots, she was my commander during the war."

"Was? Arcee, for what it seems like, the Decepticons are still battling, and the war is not over. So, I'm still your superior." Elita answered.

"Oh, yes. Sorry ma'am."

"As for your broader question: our story is that of all Autobots since the exodus." Ultra Magnus started.

"We wandered the space ways in search of others. Reuniting with some, often only to see them fall at the hands of the Decepticons. I guess Magnus and I were lucky to meet after taking down the one who were tracking us and survive." Elita continued.

"Until you detected the Omega beam and followed it here." Arcee deduced.

"If you are referring to the massive energy burst originating from Cybertron, that would be affirmative."

"Upon our arrival it became evident that this galaxy had been invaded, focused more on a single planet. My scanners also detected Autobot life signals, yours being in closest proximity to our position." Ultra Magnus continued.

"Signals. As in plural, sir?" Sky asked excitedly.

"Six total."

"Out of eight." Sky said in sadness.

"Sky, that doesn't necessarily mean what you're thinking. Autobot signals can't be detected when they're shielded." Arcee reassured.

"So we better get hurry and find them before the Decepticons do."

"Now that we had explained our odyssey, would you like to introduce us your little friend here, Arcee?" Elita asked.

"Sure, commander. This is Sky, my junior partner, I was assigned as his guardian."

"Guardian? I'm surprised Arcee, after what happened to Tailgate and you abandoned the unit, I was worried that you could never try to cooperate with anyone. Besides of losing your trail."

"I know. Sorry for making you and the other girls worried, but I've managed to improve with that issue."

"It's true, Arcee has got better since we met." Sky supported.

"Well, I had a lot of help."

"I see, and I'm glad to know you have become the same as before. And we're gonna need all positive attitude if we are going to get your team back." Elita said smiling.

"First, we have to get your native to a safe spot." Ultra Magnus suggested.

"Sir, with all due respect, Sky is my friend and we both have been chased by the Cons. And he's stronger than he looks, he saved my life a couple of times. Even managed to beat Airachnid on his own." Arcee told.

That left both commander Autobots surprised.

"In that case, he better stays with us." Elita decided.

"Thank you, sir. And ma'am." Sky said.

"Just call me Elita, Sky." She said kneeling to his height.

At the same time, Smokescreen, back on Naboo, phased through the ground and looked to the fortress of New Kaon. He spotted also the huge droid army guarding the fortress's surroundings.

"Cozy little place you built for yourself, Megatron. Finding the forge in there may take a while, especially with that new security force patrolling around, I'll have to be very sneaky to not be detected. Then again, maybe you still keep your valuables in the usual place." He deduced looking where the Nemesis was.

It took him a couple of minutes to sneak through the fortress's walls, evading the Cons and droids which operated there, until he arrived to the bridge where the ship was docked at. He also didn't need to worry about the droids present there or any ship flying nearby. Once inside, he continued phasing through the walls.

"I won't let you down, Optimus." Smokey said.

I'm sorry, overreacting?" A familiar voice shouted, Starscream's.

Smokescreen phased through a wall immediately before Knock Out and the Seekers came from a corner.

"Easy for you to say, Knock Out. Nobody here wants your post." Slipstream said.

"I, on the other hand, hold the most covenant position within the Decepticon ranks. And no matter what he may claim I know that Shockwave is plotting to usurp me. Did you see the smug look on his eye when he unveiled that vile beast to Lord Megatron?" Starscream continued.

"I think Shockwave's eye looks the same, however he feels." Skywarp said.

Smokescreen listened the conversation as he took a few steps and phased through another wall. The room was compact and had a red glow. He looked to his left and saw nothing, but when he looked to the right, he saw Airachnid's face. He yelled a little and phased out of the stasis pod, he did a back flip and got back up before looking at it.

"You don't scare me, ugly." He said before he saw that inside other of the containers had exactly what he came for. "Hello beautiful."

Meanwhile, on Cato Neimoidia's orbit, the Bulkwark Mark II battle cruiser came out of hyperspace, allowing a big flying figure to came out from its hangar and headed for the planet. Back with the Wreckers, Wheeljack and Bulkhead ended putting lots of explosives at the energon mine entrance. Next, they reunited with Han.

"Munitions planted." Bulk said.

"Let's get this party started." Wheeljack added.

Suddenly, they heard a strange roar.

"Company." Han said, pointing at a figure flying towards them.

"Megatron?" Wheeljack asked.

"Nah, bigger." Bulkhead observed.

The figure flew into the moonlight to reveal itself as the Predacon.

"I don't remember seeing that move in Buckethead's repertoire." Bulkhead said.

The creature descended a little as it roared and started to charge something inside its chest. Next it flowed through its neck and fired a huge fireball at the Autobots. Despite they were impressed by the creature, Bulkhead grabbed Han and jumped out of the blast's range. Next, they looked back to see the creature flying around shrieking.

"A dragon droid?! Where did the Cons get a dragon droid?!" Han shouted in disbelief.

"What's a dragon?" Both Wreckers asked at the same time.

"Giant flying fire-breathing reptile."

The Predacon flew back and fired at them again, so they evaded again. Bulkhead changed to his vehicle form and fired his cannon while the Predacon landed in front of Wheeljack, who fired at it. But the shots seemed to not do a scratch to the beast, so it took the chance to swing its tail, sending Wheeljack against a boulder. The Predacon approached him, but fortunately Bulkhead changed back to robot form and hit its head with his wrecking ball, but the creature prepared to launch more fire so Bulkhead ran to get away. Unfortunately, the blast hit Bulkhead, leaving some flames on his chassis.

"Bulkhead." Han yelled as he approached him while he cleaned the flames. "You okay?"

"Easy! I'm maybe hot to the touch." He warned.

Despite they were in front of it, the Predacon did not look interested in them.

"Why isn't it coming after us?" Han asked.

The Predacon examined the place where Wheeljack was when it hit him.

"Looking for me, beast?!" Wheeljack called behind it. "I'm right here."

The dragon looked at him threatening, but it was not aware that he placed a grenade right below it, until before it exploded. But surprisingly, the grenade looked to had done no damage to the creature, only enrage it more.

We're gonna need more firepower!" Bulkhead advised.

"Good thing I know just where to find some!" Wheeljack declared before running to the cave full of explosives.

Deep inside the cave there were a lot of Decepticon miners and droid guards doing their routine, until…

"Incoming!" Wheeljack exclaimed jumping over a cart full of energon.

"Hey, you're not authorized to be here." One droid simply said.

"Autobots!" One of the Decepticon guardians exclaimed as they aimed their weapons.

However, the tremors and hissing sounds got their attention, so they looked behind them to spot the Predacon crawling through the mine right towards them, so they screamed and ran like Wheeljack did. Seeing that the beast was getting close, Wheeljack transformed and drove underneath the beast. It was a difficult maneuver but he managed to drive through, so he reached to the cave's entrance, changed to robot form and reunited with his companions.

"And the walls came tumbling down." Wheeljack said pressing the detonator.

The explosion was the biggest ever seem which let a huge energon smoke cloud.

"Yes! Scratch that, dragon droid." Han said cheered.

But then a quiet sound of rocks moving in the fiery debris, followed by the emerging Predacon, which roared to the sky.

"We're toast." Han groaned.

After spotting them the creature took off in the air as the Autobots prepared to fight again. But before it could charge again it received a hard impact by two heavy lasers. Next, they saw a big cybertronian ship which looked like Autobot.

"One of ours?" Bulk asked.

"Does it matter?!" Wheeljack replied.

While the Predacon recovered itself, the ship flew above the Autobots, who made a run to the elevator shaft. The creature launched another fireball at them, but it missed, and the two Autobots jumped on the shaft while Wheeljack fired back. The ship pulled out before another fireball could hit it and speeded up leaving the Predacon behind. Once inside Wheeljack aimed his weapon in case the ship's passengers could not be friendly, but he and the others calmed down at seeing two familiar faces.

"Hello guys."

"Sky!" Han shouted.

"Arcee!" Bulkhead shouted as well.

Bulkhead surprised Arcee with a bear hug that it could possibly crush her.

"Hi, Bulkhead." She said a little painfully.

Of course, Han did the same with Sky.

"Easy, I don't want to be crushed." Sky said.

"Come on, Sky. I know you're not weakling." Han reassured.

"Thanks for the safe." Wheeljack said once Bulkhead released Arcee.

"Thank the commanders." Arcee pointed to both Elita One and Ultra Magnus, who was piloting the ship.

"Glad to see you're fine, Autobots." Elita saluted.

"Soldiers." Ultra Magnus simply said.

"You?" Wheeljack asked surprised, with a face like he wasn't glad to see him.

"Ultra Magnus, and Elita One? It's an honor." Bulkhead said.

"It's an honor, sir." Ultra Magnus corrected.

"Guess blowing that mine made us pretty easy to spot." Wheeljack deduced.

"Ultra Magnus and Elita already had a beat on your signals, and ours." Arcee told them.

"Now, care to tell us what exactly is nipping at our tailpipes?" Elita asked as she saw in a monitor showing the Predacon's silhouette.

"We think is a dragon droid." Han answered simply.

"Or a cybertronian reptile." Sky deduced.

Indeed, the Predacon continued its hunting by chasing the ship, even when the ship left the planet. Ultra Magnus saw on his monitor that the creature was getting ready to attack again. So, when it launched another fireball…

"Brace yourselves!" He warned.

The ship's shakes made Sky and Han to start to lose their balance, but fortunately Elita One grabbed them both. Magnus took his ship to a nearby small asteroid field trying to lose the Predacon, but the dragon continued chasing it, firing another fireball. Magnus not only dodged it, but managed to make a loop, putting the ship behind the Predacon, allowing him to fire at their pursuer. The Predacon received a couple of hits before he started to get away, now with the ship chasing it. Ultra Magnus continued looking for it on the asteroids, until it appeared in front of them and fired again, but this time the fireball hit one of the engines, so the ship descended a little as the creature was chasing it again. It continued firing at them until it managed to catch the ship, something that everyone inside noticed.

"It's right on top of us!" Sky deduced.

"Commander, to the gunner post." Magnus instructed.

Immediately, Elita passed the kids to Bulkhead as she sat on a seat. The Predacon appeared immediately roaring on one of the windows, making the humans scream. While this happened, a heavy turret emerged on the ship's top, the one Elita was operating and fired at it, forcing it to release the ship.

"It's out, but it's still following us." Elita reported.

"I think I can do something." Sky offered.

"What can you do?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"You would be surprised about what he can do." Arcee reassured.

"Whatever it is, do it faster." Wheeljack encouraged.

Sky started to focus in the Force. Right before it could reach the ship again, the Predacon started to feel a little confused and disoriented, making it to crash against some asteroids and flying in a wrong way.

"It's working. Whatever you're doing, keep going." Elita saw.

"We're going out the asteroid field. But it seems that's not the only creature around." Ultra Magnus reported.

Suddenly, the ship was surrounded by weird creatures floating in middle of space like nothing.

"What are those?" Bulk asked.

"And how can they be in middle of space like that?" Wheeljack added.

"They're Purrgils, creatures that live in middle of outer space." Han recognized. "It is said that they can travel at the speed of light, being the inspiration for starships hyperdrives."

"Wow, and I thought I had seen everything. Do you think they're able to do it?" Arcee asked.

"Maybe they can help us to get out of this system, and make that creature to lose our trail." Sky said as he focused again.

"Are you sure that will work?" Bulkhead asked nervous.

Sky started to meditate, trying to connect with the Purrgils.

"It's coming again!" Ultra Magnus announced, referring to the Predacon.

In least of a minute, many Purrgils surrounded the ship as the smaller members of the herd headed at the Predacon and charged at it, which caught it by surprise. Most of them tackled it, others hit it with their tentacles before they grabbed and immobilized the Predacon with them and throw it against an asteroid.

"Well done, little one." Ultra Magnus congratulated surprised.

"How did you do that?" Elita asked amazed.

"You have no idea what the people like Sky can do. I told you he was special." Arcee reassured.

"And that's not the last thing." Sky reassured.

One of the Purrgils grabbed the ship with their tentacles as they started to shine in a special way.

"What it's doing now?" Wheeljack asked confused.

"It could be…? I…I think it's going to take us with it in a jump to hyperspace." Han deduced.

"That will allow us to travel faster and find the rest of our friends." Sky explained.

"Good idea." Elita said.

"And judging by our imminent jump, we're going to our next destination." Ultra Magnus reported on his terminal.

And just as Han deduced, the Purrgils took them into hyperspace. And when the Predacon free itself from the wreckage, seeing that its preys were gone, it roared in anger. Meanwhile, in the office the Jedi were using for the crisis on Theed, Anakin was present when the communicator sounded.

"What is it now, Lord Megatron?" He asked sarcastically.

"Master Skywalker, it's Ratchet."

"Ratchet?! Oh, I'm glad to hear your voice!" He exclaimed happy before heading to the office's door. "Everyone, it's Ratchet! The Autobots are contacting us!"

And everyone came running to the room.

"Thank the Force you made it!" Obi Wan expressed.

"Where are the children? Are there with you?" Anakin asked.

"We are here, dad. Both me and Leia. Safe and sound." Luke answered.

"Luke, Leia, I'm so glad to hear you." Padmé expressed relieved.

"We're glad you're okay." Anakin added.

"Is anyone else there with you?" Obi Wan asked.

"Yes dad, I'm right here with them." Aris answered.

"Oh, thank goodness." Satine said.

"What about Sky?" Lux asked.

"Is he there too?" Ahsoka added.

"No, I'm afraid they three are the only ones present here. Listen, I'm sorry to interrupt this moment but we don't have much time." Ratchet said. "I have taken a tremendous yet calculated risk in contacting you. Hopefully, the Decepticons are not monitoring their own frequencies as closely as they no doubt are those of the natives. I am transmitting our current coordinates."

"Ratchet, we got company. There's a ship coming our way." Cliffjumper reported entering the room.

"What?"

"Ratchet, have you heard from anyone else? What about Optimus?" Anakin asked, but they heard that he already hung up. He activated his com-device. "R2, prepare the Twilight."

It was Ultra Magnus's ship which was approaching the Harbinger with the sun rising behind it. The Autobots ran outside to see the ship coming. The children were coming behind them, but Bumblebee stopped them.

"(No guys, you better stay behind.)"

The ship started its landing.

"It's one of ours." Ratchet recognized as the ship landed in front of them.

"I don't believe it." Cliff added.

The elevator shaft lowered, with Sky and Han on the front and the Autobots behind them.

"Leia, Luke, Aris!" Han spotted before he and Sky ran toward them.

"Han, Sky!" Leia shouted as the three of them did the same.

The group reunited with a great group hug.

"You made it too." Han said.

"What did you expect? We're part of Team Prime." Luke reassured.

"It's so touching to see them all together again." Cliff admitted seeing the children united.

"You're alive." Ratchet said relieved.

The Autobots went out of the ship, revealing who brought them together.

"Ultra Magnus. And…Elita One?"

"Good to see you again, Ratchet." Elita expressed.

"Doctor." Ultra Magnus saluted.

Meanwhile, back on New Kaon…

"We managed to find the Predacon and bring it back. But we didn't find any trail or remains of the Autobots." The droid officer of the ship reported to the Decepticons.

"What a grave disappointment this must be for you, master." Starscream said.

"And to make matters worse, because it cannot speak, we have no way of knowing why the Predacon failed so miserable." Thundercracker added while all saw Shockwave petting and stroking the Predacon.

"Yeah, poor mute, mindless creature." Skywarp mocked.

Without realizing it, the Predacon stared at them so menacingly for their comments, like if it understood what they were saying. Back with the Autobots…

"(You guys think I overdid it with my new finish?)" Bumblebee asked showing his new appearance.

"The new paintjob looks good, Bee." Bulkhead admired.

"At least you had something to work with. If I reversed my colors, I'd be pink, totally." Arcee revealed.

"I'm sure Sky would agree with that." Cliff said.

Meanwhile, Ratchet was talking with Elita and Magnus.

"The communications link needs further calibrations to be compatible with Autobot frequencies. The ground bridge, however, is fully operational." Ratchet informed.

"That would have come in handy when the dragon droid was trying to eat us for breakfast." Han objected while Sky tried to stop him to provoke Ultra Magnus.

"The indigenous population of this galaxy, do they display the same disregard for authority?" Magnus asked.

"No. Mostly just Han." Ratchet replied.

"Forget that, Magnus. Not everyone here belongs to military units." Elita reassured.

Then everyone heard the familiar sound of engines, and spotted the Twilight flying towards them. Thinking the ship was an enemy, Ultra Magnus turned his hands into cannons, ready to fire.

"No!" Ratchet begged.

"Don't shoot!" Cliffjumper said putting himself on his way.

"It's the Jedi! They're with us!" Bulkhead explained.

The kids approached the ship as it landed, and became really happy to see their families coming out from the ship. The first ones to approach them, coming at high speed, were their droid friends.

"R2, BB-8, 3PO!" The twins exclaimed.

"Oh, thanks the Maker! You made it!" The protocol droid exclaimed.

Both droids beeped happy to see them again, receiving hugs from everyone. But the most emotive part was when each child reunited with their parents.

"We're so happy to see you're fine." Ahsoka said as she and her husband hug their son.

"We received your message." Lux added.

"I had to tell you I was okay, not wanted to worry you." Sky explained.

"We thought something bad happened to you." Satine said as she and Obi Wan hug their daughter.

"What about Naboo? We were more worried for what could happen to you there." Aris said.

"Don't worry, everyone's safe. We managed to evacuate the nearest towns in time." Her father explained.

"And it seems you've managed to move properly around the galaxy by your own." Anakin said as he and Padmé put their children back to the ground.

"Indeed, but we're not everyone." Luke revealed.

"The only signals Ultra Magnus was able to isolate are standing right here." Arcee explained.

"Maybe it's scanner is faulty." Wheeljack suggested pointing to the ship.

"So the kid's unaccounted for." Bulkhead added.

"Smokescreen bridged out unaccompanied, only Optimus knows where." Ratchet told.

"Wait, Optimus is here? In this galaxy?" Elita asked with interest.

"Why she wants to know?" Sky asked.

"Optimus and Elita are very close partners." Arcee simply said.

"He's the one who has been leading the Autobots here, and also the one who assigned each member of Team Prime a guardian for each of our little friends. He gave us the order to evacuate and split up across different planets to avoid capture. And Optimus remained behind to destroy the ground bridge. To ensure…that everyone else… made it to safety." Ratchet said hardly. "I'm sorry, Elita."

"That's Optimus: he would never leave anyone behind, even risking his own spark." Elita nodded.

"We…watched the base go down. No one or thing walked out of there." Anakin said.

"Not that we could see." Padmé added.

"Even if Optimus survived, I'm not sure we can afford to wait for him to show up. Not with Megatron holding our galaxy hostage from his high and mighty fortress at New Kaon." Obi Wan continued.

"They now had a superweapon which can destroy planets, even entire star systems with a single shot." Ahsoka reported.

Ultra Magnus walked through everyone. "I would be inclined to agree with the native lifeforms. We must stop Megatron."

"Yes, with or without Optimus Prime." Elita supported.

Speaking of Optimus, he was still inside the cavern in company of the wolves when Smokescreen phased through the wall carrying something with him that he later placed on the floor.

"I'm back, guys. Optimus, I have the forge. You can use it to repair yourself."

"That…is not the reason…I had you retrieve the relic."

"What? I don't understand."

"The power of the forge…is not unlimited. Its energy has already begun…to ebb."

"So it's running low. Who cares? All we need is enough juice to get you back into fighting shape."

"Whatever power remains…must be used…to rebuild the Omega Lock…to restore Cybertron."

"But that would mean…"

"The fate of all our kind…is more vital…than that of anyone of us…including…me."

Back with the rest of the Autobots…

"We must do everything in our power to ensure Megatron's downfall. But we will need to be smart about it." Ultra Magnus started.

"Whoa! Who put Shoulder Pads in command?" Wheeljack objected.

"Temporary command." Luke corrected.

"Ultra Magnus and Elita One are the only logical choices. He was trained by Optimus and served as his commanding officer throughout the War for Cybertron." Ratchet clarified.

"And Arcee told me Elita is the leader of all female Autobots." Sky added.

"That's correct too. She has as much combat and leadership experience as Optimus."

"Now unless there is any further objection, soldier." Ultra Magnus said looking at Wheeljack. "Please, follow us."

Magnus and Elita went to the platform followed by the other Autobots.

"Aye aye, captain." Wheeljack said sarcastically.

Back inside, Ultra Magnus moved to the very back of the ship and pressed a button on the wall. That revealed a secret compartment of weapons and munitions.

"Autobots, take your pick." Elita said stepping aside.

"Now you're speaking my language, commanders." Wheeljack said surprised.

Back in the caves…

"Optimus, the forge is a relic of the Primes. We can't use it to restore Cybertron, not without a Prime, not without you." Smokescreen defended.

"There will be…a new Prime."

"You can worry about that after we get you patched up and we take down Megatron." Smokescreen said as he was about to grab the forge, but Optimus grabbed his arm.

"The time…for a new leader…is upon us. In my spark…I believe…that leader stands before me right now."

Smokescreen's optics widen in shock, even the wolves looked surprised, he didn't see that coming.