Earth—Outside of Sanjo City

A soldier watched from in front of a row of folding table as a jet streaked across the sky. He knew of no jet on Earth that looked like that. It was who they were waiting for. Megatron had arrived.

"Scheduled contact is IDed and clear," The soldier heard in his earpiece. A TRF team was hiding nearby, armed and ready should Megatron attack. He watched as Megatron transformed and landed, dropping his two human hostages on the ground. He scared them off before approaching the line of tables.

The soldier turned around and went to open the doors to the SUVs that were parked behind the tables. Lawyers with the TRF and military were there to make sure the deal with Megatron went smoothly. They all had faces of fear as the exited the vehicles, seeing the towering menace marching towards them, his unique sword in hand.

"You know who they always kill first?" The soldier asked the lawyer he opened the door for as she stared at Megatron in fear. "Lawyers."

The soldier went out to meet Megatron as the lawyers took up the seats at the tables, setting up laptops and all. He didn't want to do this. Hated it even. It was a necessary evil. Megatron would lead them to this Staff and then promptly be put down hard. But while the soldier wouldn't admit it openly, the Decepticon terrified him.

Megatron stopped before The soldier, pointing his sword at him. "Do I know you, earthling? I want my crew!"

"Give me names!" The soldier shouted. It was right down to business, then.

"Mohawk."

The soldier turned to the lawyers. The talked amongst themselves briefly before one of them nodded. He turned back to Megatron. "Alright. Who else?"

"Dreadbot."

One of the lawyers typed on her laptop. "Dreadbot, in for… bank robbery. Aggravated assault. Murder. Double murder. Triple murder. Nine dead. Didn't even take the money. No!"

Megatron shouted as he slammed the wide, bladed end of his sword into the ground and pulled it towards him, tearing up the dry and cracked dirt. "What?!"

"Well, uh, I mean we can be flexible," another lawyer stammered out. "We'll issue a GPS tracker. It'll be fine."

Lennox looked back at Megatron for another name.

"Dreadwing."

"Government requests that he doesn't leave the county," some other lawyer informed. "And we're serious about that."

The soldier gave a half-hearted "okay" to that. Turning back to the Decepticon leader he asked, "Is that all?"

"Two more," Megatron said. "First, Berserker."

Every human gave him a blank look before one lawyer said, "Absolutely not!"

"Nope, no," The soldier said to Megatron. "There are limits! What's your other option?"

Megatron scowled at them all. "Onslaught."

"Eh, let me run that up that flag pole real quick," a lawyer said before pulling out his phone and calling someone. After the call, he held up the phone. "Yes, yes!" All of the lawyers could not have been faster packing up and practically running back into their perceived safety of the SUVs.

"What do you really want, Megatron?" The soldier asked the Decepticon leader. Megatron had to have some twisted reason for this. The Staff had to be a super weapon or something. He had to have a plan to end Earth. That's what he had always done.

Megatron began attaching his sword to his back. "What anyone wants, earthling. To go home."

Turning around and walking away, The soldier said, "Yeah, that'll be alright with me too."

Sanjo City

It was the morning in Sanjo City as the Autobots were performing various tasks.

A few minutes later, the Decepticons arrived. The laser turrets automatically opened fire, but they did little to annoy the Cons, who quickly dispatched them. Megatron transformed and landed between a row of rusted cars. He growled as he scanned the 'empty' junkyard. There was no sign of either Max or the Autobots. As suspected, TRF had given away their approach and their enemies had fled. Still, Megatron knew they had not gotten far, the smell of gasoline was still fresh in the air. As well as their fear.

"Yo, Megatron, boss, we an't got no one here." Mohawk said as he stood on top of a rundown car.

"I can see that." Growled Megatron.

"Unfortunate, I was hoping to bash some heads." Dreadwing commented as he landed.

Payload walked around the junkyard. The purple mech's optic spotted something on the ground. Zooming in, he saw several tire marks. "My lord, I've found their tracks. They're heading southeast." Payload said.

Megatron nodded. He was about to order his soldiers to pursue when from a row of cars, something burst out from cover, literally. Old cars and scraps of metal were sent flying. Immediately, Megatron slid on his battle mask as an Autobot rolled out of the dust.

"Come and get some, you Decepticons!" Hound shouted as he opened fire with his tri-barreled minigun.

The barrage hit Megatron first, forcing the Decepticon leader to a knee. The smaller Decepticons took cover as the bullets soared through the air. The others were about to retaliate when Megatron acted first. Rolling forward into a crouching position, he powered his fusion cannon. Raising his weapon, he fired two shots at the pest. The first missed while the second hit center mass of the Autobot, the force propelling him back into a pile of cars.

Retracting his mask, Megatron turned towards his troops. "Decepticons! Transform and pursue Taylor!" He ordered.

"Lord Megatron. What about the Autobot?" Onslaught asked, indicating to the wounded commando.

Growling Megatron replied, "Retrieving the talisman is far more important than the termination of a pathetic Autobot. Now, move!"

As the Decepticons took off, none of them spotted Trench. Once he was sure the area was clear, the excavator Autobot transformed and rushed to help Hound.

Before he could do anything, a sharp pinch caused Max to cry out in pain. The talisman had somehow crawled out of his bag and latched on to his upper arm.

"Ahh! Get off!" Max yelled as he tried to shake the talisman off. Unfortunately, Megatron heard him.

"Max Taylor!" The Decepticon snarled, "I need that talisman!"

Seeing how his cover was blown, Max took aim and fired at Megatron. The energy bolt hit the Con, making him stumble backwards a bit. Quickly, the boy turned on the detonator. The bombs went off at once, consuming the Decepticons in a swarm of explosions. Many of them were knocked off their feet. Seeing the opening, Max ran up and grabbed Rex and Zoe.

Back with the Decepticons, despite the explosions, none of them were killed, though slightly disoriented. However, Megatron managed to get them back on track. "Get those wretched creatures!" Megatron roared through the smoke.

The entire town was soon consumed in gunfire as both sides opened fire. Some of the Cons gave chase, going after Max, Rex and Zoe. Barricade dodged the attack and chased after the humans, with Dreadbot and Dreadwing right behind him. Payload, Ransack, Swindle and Wreckage joined them, driving on the sides. As Barricade turned a corner, Max fired a shot from his alien pistol. It struck the Con on his side, stunning him temporarily. Megatron fired at Max, Rex and Zoe, but from his position he could not get a direct hit, though he was awfully close. However, he was forced onto the defensive when Wreckers opened fire on him. Onslaught, Skystalker and Mindwipe tried to help their leader, but were defeated by Drift, Crosshairs, Ratchet and Cliffjumper.

Seeing as the Autobots had the current advantage, Megatron ordered his soldiers to retreat. Each Decepticon transformed and followed their leader. The sound of diesel and jet engines echoed all around as the fled. Grimlock, not satified with the fight, roared in frustration before slamming his mace into the ground.