A lightning storm was brewing overhead Mt. Saint Helen's; within, Razorclaw and Skydagger were practising their alien powers...
Primal Prime, meanwhile, was reciting some ancient text.
"And thus, two mighty warriors descended from the sky; rainbows upon their heads, and their feet as pillars of fire... And the Great Dragon was cast out upon the Earth, along with his followers," Primal read aloud from the text.
"What in the seven Spiral Galaxies are you jabberin' about?!" Rattrap asked. Rhinox cleared his intakes.
"The Covenant of Primus, Data Track: 7.613; only two copies exist..." Rhinox explained. "One of them was aboard the Ark," he elaborated.
Rattrap blew a raspberry.
"Oh, *please*... Okay, Mega-Ego lost his base, and we added the Wonder Twins to the team. But you don't *really* think it was all ordained, do ya?" he questioned sarcastically.
Rhinox frowned.
"Even if it wasn't, this might be our last opportunity to end the Beast Wars and Megatron's evil forever," Rhinox replied.
"All we have to do is find him..." Primal Prime said.
Meanwhile, at the wreckage from Tarantulas' old lair, Depth Charge and Silverbolt flew overhead to check that the Preds had evacuated the area.
Quickstrike was seething from his hiding spot among some foliage.
"Dangit! I *hate* hidin' from those stupid Maximals! Can't I just *shoot* one, Boss?!" he complained. A quick swat from Megatron's tail served as his answer.
"NO! We are, at the moment, at a tactical disadvantage, Quickstrike, yesss..." Megatron whispered harshly.
"And whose fault is that?! You led us to defeat, and..." Rampage whispered even harsher before being cut off by Nemesis Prime flicking his spark again.
As Rampage fell to the ground in agony, Megatron stepped upon the mutant's chest.
"Defeat? Not yet! I suspect that Tarantulas may have left something behind we can utilize, yesss..."
"Against Razorclaw and Skydagger?! Dream on..." Rampage snorted derisively.
Inferno emerged from his hiding place behind a tree.
"The Royalty *will* triumph! All we need is a new colony, which I task myself with finding!" the ant reasoned.
Waspinator emerged from the treetop.
"Ant-Bot couldn't find his own thorax with both hands *and* a roadmap..." the hornet sneered.
Megatron's eyes lit up.
"A new base, yesss! Take Quickstrike, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur with you, sub-commander; see what you can locate..."
"At once, my King!" Inferno said enthusiastically.
"Waspinator has a *bad* feeling about this..." Waspinator groaned.
"As for you two, search the wreckage; that spider's scheming was one of *very* few certainties within this struggle..." he ordered of Rampage and Nemesis Prime.
Looking around for a few minutes, Nemesis Prime happened upon a suspicious-looking boulder.
Lifting it, he revealed a secret access hatch!
"Ah, yesss... The inevitable betrayal from Unicron's spawn may yet turn the tide in our favour..." Megatron said with a smirk.
As Depth Charge and Silverbolt were finishing up, they spotted the Predacon foursome of Inferno, Waspinator, Terrorsaur, and Quickstrike leaving the area.
"This is Depth Charge; Pred activity has been spotted in Grid Skidon," Depth Charge whispered into his commlink.
"Acknowledged, Depth Charge! The strike team is ready to deploy; fall back until their arrival!" Primal Prime ordered.
"Blow it outta your exhaust port, Primal! X is down there! ...I'm goin' in..."
"Depth Charge?! Depth Charge, fall back!" Primal ordered again. He couldn't get a signal.
Transforming into jet mode, Primal Prime gave the others their orders...
"Hit it, 'bots! The time is now; transform and let's finish it!" he decreed before flying out the door with Aurora, Razorclaw, and Skydagger.
As Megatron, Rampage, and Nemesis Prime descended the entrance ladder, halogen lights illuminated the interior of a submarine launch platform...
"Argh, more of that spider's toys! We're wasting our time!" Rampage complained. Megatron chuckled.
"Not if what I suspect is accurate, my dear Rampage..." Megatron muttered. Within seconds, Megatron was smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"Yes! Yesss! Nemesis Prime, Rampage; into the submersible, and be quick about it! ...Victory may yet be *ours*, yesss..."
Upon entering the submarine, Nemesis Prime and Megatron were sealed safely inside. The vehicle took off down a steep, railed path, with Rampage following close behind in his tank mode...
Outside, Depth Charge was trying to uncover the hatch after it was covered in rubble.
Primal Prime and Silverbolt landed nearby.
"Hmm, our enemies appear to have vanished," Silverbolt noticed, his expression hidden behind his mouthplate.
"I *know* they were here! I can still smell the stink of X's spark!" Depth Charge said with frustration in his tone. He then uncovered the hatch that led to the submarine platform.
"Ah-HAH! I knew it!" Depth Charge said as he unlocked the hatch.
"Depth Charge, WAIT! It might be a..." Primal Prime began when Depth Charge opened the hatch; inside was a bundle of explosives...
"Trap..." Primal finished.
"Oh, slag..." Depth Charge muttered as the explosives detonated.
Nearby, Cheetor, his family, Skydagger and Razorclaw, plus Blackarachnia, were flying along when a tremendous shockwave hit them!
"SILVERBOLT!" Blackarachnia cried out, realizing that the blast's core was where her beloved was.
Descending on a webline from Aurora's back, Blackarachnia gestured to Primal Prime and Depth Charge.
"Stand away, scrapheaps!"
"Worry not, my love... 'Tis but a... Scratch," Silverbolt told his beloved as his right arm fell off.
"Maybe... But I'd say you're due for a CR chamber visit..." Primal Prime advised.
"Sir, I'll be fine; I just need..." Silverbolt began protesting when Blackarachnia cut him off.
"Shut up and obey your commander, Big Bird..." she told him.
Silverbolt gave a sheepish grin beneath his mouthplate as his head fell off. "Yes, dear..."
"Snowy, 'Shade and I will escort them back," Cheetor told his leader. Primal Prime nodded before turning to Aurora and Depth Charge.
"C'mon, we've got work to do," he said.
At Una and Chak's village, the young hominids were playing a game of "Chase". Unknown to them, Inferno was watching...
"There! That will be our new colony!" he announced to the other three Preds.
"Eww! I don't wanna move in there! It's got all those hairy critters in it!" Quickstrike replied. Terrorsaur facepalmed.
"He *means* we're going to slag them all and take it, you nickel-plated nitwit!" he groaned.
"Please tell me *that's* what you're plannin'!" Quickstrike pleaded.
"The Royalty has demanded a new colony, and we shall take it... By force," Inferno said with a devious smirk.
"That's more like it!" Quickstrike whooped.
"How about it, bug-eyes? Are you ready to rumble?" Terrorsaur asked Waspinator.
"...No," Waspinator replied. The other's jaws dropped.
"WHAT?!" Quickstrike and Terrorsaur shouted in unison.
"But the Royalty commands!" Inferno decreed. Terrorsaur and Quickstrike nodded, gesturing for the bug to get in line.
"I SAID "NO"! MEGATRON COMMANDS YOU THREE IDIOTS, BUT NOT ME; NOT ANYMORE!
I'M SICK OF BEING EVIL, SICK OF BEING A PREDACON AND ESPECIALLY SICK OF GETTING BLOWN TO SCRAP ALL THE TIME! So..." he started before pulling out his pistol and knocking the three Preds back with stinger grenades.
"I'm SWITCHING SIDES! As of NOW!" he yelled, quickly converting to beast mode and flying off.
En-Route to the Maximal base, Waspinator silently told his internal computer to alter his activation code.
Back with the Preds...
"Forget about him; let's slag some hominids!" Terrorsaur urged his comrades, who nodded in agreement.
As they charged in, the trio were met by a group of males who threw spears at them. As the spears embedded themselves in the Predacons' armour, Quickstrike was the first to realize that this would be... Tricky.
"Dang! Those little flea-pickers are braver than they used to be!"
"X and Nemesis Prime were *both* here..." Depth Charge commented as he inspected the submersible launch area. "They went that way," he said, pointing at the departure point.
"Fleeing our approach, perhaps?" Razorclaw questioned. Skydagger tilted her head in thought.
"Not if I know Megatron's thought pattern; he's after something..." Primal Prime told them. Pushing a few buttons on the command module, he found something disturbing...
"The Nemesis!" he gasped.
"You're kidding, right?" Depth Charge asked in worry.
"I wish... Depth Charge, we've had our differences, but you and I *both* know that this is bigger than us! They're underwater, which means *you're* our only hope! You have to stop Megatron, no matter the cost..." Primal Prime explained. Depth Charge nodded.
"Consider it done," he replied, transforming and diving into the water.
"Just a little further..." Megatron said giddily.
"But what to?" Nemesis Prime asked.
"THAT!" Megatron exclaimed, pointing.
Before the Predacon's optic sensors was a mighty warship, as large as the Ark and as foreboding as the original Megatron...
"Huh... Impressive," Nemesis Prime commented. "...What is it, Boss?"
"That, my malevolent minion, is the most powerful Decepticon warship in Cybertronian history! *That* is the ship that shot down the Ark: The Nemesis!" he declared.
"This is Primal Prime; encode transmission: M-Cipher," Primal Prime commanded.
"Scramblers are on; go ahead, Prime," Shadow replied.
"This is a class-7 emergency situation; Depth Charge is preparing to engage a superior force without backup. Razorclaw, Skydagger and I are tracking his signal, but *we* may not be enough! I've sent Aurora back to you guys if you need her; prepare the base defences for a full assault!" Primal commanded.
"WHAT?! I thought we had this sewn up!" Rattrap complained.
"Megatron just ripped it wide open... Primal Prime, out."
"Is it just me, or did he kinda say "We're all gonna die,"?" Rattrap whined.
"You mentioned something called "The Nemesis"; what is it? Razorclaw asked.
"The "Nemesis" was the flagship of the Decepticon space fleet. It shot down the Ark before also crashing somewhere on this planet... Apparently, Tarantulas found it; Megatron may have it now," Primal Prime explained.
"And if he does?" Skydagger asked.
"Then may Primus have mercy on us all..." Primal replied.
"Excellent, yesss; even after being swept away to Primus-knows-where, that spider's treachery remains my greatest asset! Observe: A refurbished ship with a Transwarp cell, a Predacon control console, and best of all... A Covenant of Primus," Megatron gloated. "It was from these tracks that I acquired my name... How fitting, since time and space will soon be mine to command!"
"*IF* this old ship still works..." Nemesis Prime muttered.
"It *must*! Quickly, bring all power circuits online!" Megatron ordered.
Depth Charge was approaching his target, which was surrounded by raw Energon...
"By the Matrix!" he gasped. "Depth Charge to Primal Prime, you called it right; I'm goin' in..." he told his commander as he transformed.
"Acknowledged. And, Depth Charge? Good luck," Primal replied.
"Thanks, I guess," Depth Charge said with a smirk.
"You *really* think you can save the Universe, fish-boy? Don't make me laugh!" Rampage taunted from behind Depth Charge. The crazed crab launched a missile straight at Depth Charge, which the mighty manta kicked back in his direction, causing a fissure!
The crevice surged towards Rampage, forcing him to hang by his hands from either side!
Depth Charge drop-kicked the crab before being swiftly kicked back by Rampage into an area with raw Energon shards embedded in the ground.
"I've got no *time* for you, X!" Depth Charge shouted as he pulled a shard from the ground. Rampage sneered.
"Just like you had no time for Starbase Rugby?! You had friends there! ...Tasty ones, as I remember..." the crab goaded on. Depth Charge had had enough!
Swinging the Energon shard like a sword, Depth Charge kept coming close to hitting Rampage, but to no avail. Rampage knocked the Energon shard from Depth Charge's grasp, commenting:
"Pathetic!"
To which Depth Charge simply replied:
"Shut up!"
Grabbing his own shard, Rampage kept taunting the manta.
"Face it, Fins, you *can't* win!" Rampage said, rushing Depth Charge. Depth Charge roared in rage, grabbing another Energon shard and dodging the crab. As Rampage passed beside him, Depth Charge got a lucky hit! Rampage's spark was exposed...
Megatron had been watching the whole time.
"A little tension to set the mood, yesss; excellent!" he commented. "Status report, Nemesis Prime?"
"The power cells are approaching maximum capacity, sir," the clone replied.
Jumping for one another, Depth Charge and Rampage clashed. Depth Charge kicked off of the mutant Transformer and was attempting another strike when Rampage erected a large Energon crystal in front of him as a shield!
Depth Charge crashed straight through the Energon and past Rampage...
Now, he was ticked...
"The power's fully charged, Boss!" Nemesis Prime told his creator.
"And as it were a great mountain raging with fire, it arose from the sea! ...Thrusters, online!" Megatron quoted/commanded.
As the Nemesis powered up, Depth Charge and Rampage were still at it.
"I was *your* assignment, and you... FAILED!" the crab kept pushing. Now, Depth Charge was REALLY mad...
Depth Charge knocked Rampage to his back and poised the Energon shard in his hands over the mutant's chest, with Rampage straining to keep it from contacting his spark!
"RAW ENERGON, RIGHT THROUGH YOUR TWISTED SPARK! TAKE IT! TAKE IT STRAIGHT TO THE PIT, YOU SICKENING PIECE OF SLAG!" Depth Charge roared.
Unexpectedly, Rampage let go of the shard! It was as if he was beckoning Depth Charge to do it.
Depth Charge, however, wasn't *that* easy to fool...
"Do it yourself, X! Put yourself out of your *own* misery; I've got better things to do than self-pity today!" Depth Charge near-shrieked, letting go of the Energon shard. Rampage was stunned.
"F- Fine! I'll do it, though; you realize that?!" Rampage shouted. Depth Charge just nodded and converted to beast mode, swimming out of what would be the blast radius.
A sorrowful look crossed Rampage's otherwise stoic face.
"At least we'll be together again, my sweet Transmutate..." he whispered.
Suddenly, Nemesis Prime felt an overwhelming agony in his spark, like thousands of other sparks cried out, then were silenced...
Primal Prime, Razorclaw and Skydagger were flying along when Depth Charge flew out of the water to meet them.
Just then, a MASSIVE shockwave rocked the area!
"Base to Primal Prime; the scanners report a thunderous detonation of unknown type at your location! What's the status?!" Rhinox queried over the commlink.
"X is destroyed, Rhinox; the Nemesis, on the other hand, I've got *zero* idea about..." Depth Charge answered for his commander.
"Well, we're about to get an idea... LOOK!" Skydagger commented as the dreaded warship arose from the sea.
"By the code of Primus..." Primal Prime gasped. "How did it survive?!"