On the unknown planet within the sea, Hot Rod was tossed out of the shuttle before it crashed as he was trapped and tied by metal seaweeds. "Kup! Grimlock! Roadbuster! Optimus! Anybody," he cried for help as he struggled to escape as metal robotic sharks swam towards him. He converted one of his palms into a saw blade as he cut through the weeds and shark to free himself.

Once he was freed, the young Autobot heard cries that sounded like Kup. He immediately transforms and drives towards the cry. Hot Rod found the Autobot veteran being attacked and torn apart by a giant metal octopus as he cried out for help. The flame-colored Autobot fired his sidearm laser to blast the giant monster's tentacles to free his mentor.

The giant sea creature attacked him by grabbing the Autobot with its tentacles while the young soldier was blasting it. Hot Rod used his saw blade to slice free from one of its tentacles but was grabbed by another. The Autobot fired and destroyed the metal octopus's eye, causing it to flee.

After the monster fled, Hot Rod immediately rushed to the injured veteran. "Kup," he cried as he's shaking him, trying to wake him up. "Kup! Please speak to me!"

"Fi-Fi-Fix me please," Kup weakly said.

"Don't worry, Kup! I'll fix you!" Hot Rod quickly grabs both Kup's torn arm and leg before carrying him. He brings the wounded Autobot to the surface and lays him on the shores before he starts fixing him.

Back at Autobot City, the surviving Autobots gathered around in the meeting room to discuss their plans on the matter at hand. "Alright, everyone, we all heard what's going on and about our friends," Wheeljack told all of them. "We need to find a way to help them out with the Decepticons and this new threat."

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing," Sunstreaker shouted. "We need to go help Prime and the others!"

"Well, how can we help them if we're stuck on this rock," Streetwise asked him. "The only ones who can fly are the Aerialbots, Blade, Tracks, Powerglide, and Jetfire but he's being treated by Ratchet thanks to the recent attack."

"And our only transportation is Sky Lynx and Omega Supreme but he's still offline from the battle," Trailbreaker told them.

"Plus, I don't believe we have enough complement for all of you," Sky Lynx points out.

"Which is why I'm going to tell you it will be both insane and ridiculous," Wheeljack told them. "We need to repair the Ark and use it to help our friends."

All of the Autobots started to argue about the insane plan while the inventor tried to calm everyone down. "Are you joking, Wheeljack," Silverbolt shouted. "I thought the Ark could never take off after the crash?!"

"Well, we managed to build our own city," he told them. "Then maybe we can fix the Ark and restore it the way it was when we used it to leave Cybertron. So, let's use it to return to Cybertron."

"Wheeljack, that's a terrible plan," Mirage told him. "There's no way we could fix the Ark in time."

"Enough of your bickering," Ironhide yelled as he, Ratchet, and Jetfire entered the room while everyone was shocked by their recovery. "We can't let our friends deal with those dirty Cons and whatever this lickin' monster alone! Especially what those darn murderers did to our friends!"

"We understood, Ironhide, but simply repairing that giant bucket of bolts won't cut it," Sixgun complained. "How can that darn vessel handle against whatever attacking Cybertron?"

"The Ark has enough firepower to defend itself against enemy ships and asteroids," Ratchet told him.

"I love the sound of that, doc," Warpath shouted.

"Regardless, I believe the Ark is beyond repair and will never take off ever again," Red Alert added. "Not to mention it's in a volcano!"

"But that volcano has never erupted for so long," Sideswipe told him.

"Still, I don't believe we can ever restore the Ark as it used to be!"

"Well, we have to try," Jetfire told him. "Look, Optimus and the others are out there dealing with the Cons and this monster as we speak! They need backup now or else they're doomed! Not to mention Jazz, Bumblebee, and Spike are dealing with the monster by themselves! They need our help! We have to go to Cybertron and give them reinforcements! What do you all say?! Do you wanna show the galaxy what the Autobots are truly made of?!"

Finally, the Autobots looked at each other and they all cheered in agreement to fix the Ark and save their friends. They all exited the room while grabbing tools and shrapnel from the city to repair the vessel. Wheeljack, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Jetfire stayed behind to discuss their plans. "Do ya really believe we can fix the Ark," Ironhide asked the engineer.

"Hopefully," Wheeljack responded. "It's the only transportation that'll hold all of us. It'll take months to make a new vessel. Plus, I still have the blueprints for the Ark. The ship is still mostly intact. Just need to repair a few scratches and fix the fuel rods."

"Then, why are we standing here talking about it," Jetfire asked them. "Let's hurry up and fix it to save Prime!"

As the three head off, Ratchet stays behind and talks to himself, "Please stay safe everyone. Reinforcements are on the way. Just hold on a little longer."

Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus's shuttle is heading towards an unavoidable course towards the junk planet, Junkion. The Autobot commander and his team secured their seats as their transport was getting closer to the planet. "Brace for impact," Magnus shouted as the ship plunged to the surface.

After the ship crash landed on the junk planet, the rest of the Autobots and Daniel lay still on the floor while Magnus slowly regained consciousness. "Sh-Say something," he says to his fellow Autobots. "Anybody."

None of them said a word for a while until Springer talked as he and the others slowly picked themselves up, "Remind me to give the auto-pilot a raise."

"I hope this is the last time I'll experience a crash landing," Prowl said while rubbing his head.

Arcee shelters Daniel from the crash as she slowly picks herself up while calling his name, "Daniel? Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," the kid told her while he picked himself up.

Ultra Magnus grabs a fusion cutter as he and others are about to exit the crashed ship. "Let's try to salvage this thing," he told the others.

"Can I help, can I help," Daniel cheered. "I wanna help, I wanna help!"

"I don't know. It's rough out there, kid," Springer told him.

"I think Daniel can make himself useful with this," Arcee told them while carrying an exo-suit.

"I completely forgot we have that onboard," Prowl said.

"What is it," the child asked.

"It's Spike's exo-suit," Arcee told him.

"Dad's exo-suit?! He told me all about it!"

"Here try it on!" Arcee places the suit down while Prowl helps the human child get inside it. "Now try to walk. Come on, you can do it."

Daniel tried to walk while wearing the suit but he kept tripping and having difficulty operating it. "Just think about what you want to do before you do it," Prowl told him.

"It's kinda tricky," he told them until he tripped again but Arcee caught him in time.

"Keep on practicing. You'll get the hang of it," Arcee assured him.

"Come on, show times over," Ultra Magnus smiles. "We've got work to do."

They exited their damaged ship and searched through the scrapyard to find anything that's fix their transport. Suddenly, the Junkions rose from the junks but the Autobots were too busy with their work to even notice the life forms. The beings were angry that the Cybertronians were taking the junk parts that they own to repair their little shuttle.

Within the devourer planet, Jazz and the others kept wandering through the darkness of the beast. Spike looks around at the monster as he slowly begins to be discouraged by their plans to destroy Unicron. Bumblebee noticed his best friend's expression and gently laid his hand on his shoulder. "Ha Spike, what's wrong," he asked him with concern.

"I… I don't think I'm ready to leave my Daniel," he told him. "I know that we need to kill this monster but… I know that we won't survive this and… my son has to live in a world without his father…"

"What? Spike! Come on man! Don't say that. We'll find a way to kill this monster without anyone dying. I know that Optimus and our friends are on their way to stopping this freak. And I know that you'll be back home and be with Carly and Daniel. We are all going to survive this."

"Thanks, Bee. I needed to hear that."

"Ha you two," Cliffjumper shouted. "Let's get a move on before we get caught."

"How are we gonna get caught," Gears confused. It's a giant planet. I doubt it cares if we're inside of it."

"Cut the chatter, ya'll," Jazz told them. "We got a job to do. So stay focused."

"Why should we stay cautious," Hubcap asked. "This stupid fat planet doesn't know we survive. We're in the clear."

Suddenly, Hubcap lays his hand on a surface then suddenly a deadly crawl pops out and grabs his arm. It pulls the Autobot away until Jazz uses his grappling hook to catch him as Spike uses his exo-suit to blast it away from him. "What the freak was that," Cliffjumper shouted.

"Good thing it was only one," Gears said.

Suddenly, multiple crawls pop out of the ceilings and attack the survivors. "Why would you say that," Bumblebee shouted. "You should never have said that so something like that wouldn't happen!"

"Transform and let's get out of here," Jazz yelled as he and his fellow Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes while fleeing from the claws.

Back on the unknown planet, the destroyed Autobot shuttle crashed on the surface with the front and back torn open. The Wreckers slowly picked themselves up while groaning in pain. "Is everyone still online," Topspin asked his teammates.

"Yeah," Whirl responded. "Still kicking as always."

"I think I bent something," Roadbuster jokes.

"Wait," Sandstorm shouted. "Where's Optimus?!"

"Over here, you guys," Twin Twist shouted as he and Broadside lifted a torn metal. "He's under here!"

Topspin and Sandstorm rush over and pull their leader out as they gently sit him down. "Prime, are you alright," the Wrecker leader asked him.

"I… I'm fine… wh-where's Hot Rod, Kup, and the Dinobots," the leader of the Autobots asked them.

"Hot Rod and Kup were in the pilot seats when the front of the ship was ripped apart," Whirl told him.

"And those dinosaurs were in the back of the ship when it was separated from the impact," Roadbuster added.

"I'm sure the Dinobots will be fine but we must find Hot Rod and Kup," Topspin told them as they were about to head out.

"Agreed. We must…" Optimus tried to pick himself up until he fell, causing the Wreckers to rush to his aid.

"We got you, Optimus," Sandstorm told him while he helped him up. "Don't worry, sir. We got your-"

"Orion…"

"What?"

"I'm Orion Pax…"

"I… I don't understand…"

"I no longer bear the Matrix of Leadership… I was saved by Alpha Trion who gave me the Matrix of Leadership to help me become stronger… Now that I no longer bear it… I'm just Orion…"

"Who cares if you have the Matrix or not," Roadbuster shouted at Optimus. "You're still Optimus Prime! Our one and only leader of the Autobots! There's no one else I want to lead the Autobots than you!"

"But I'm in no condition to lead any of you… I… I cannot lead anyone… I can't do anything like this…"

"Prime, please don't say that about yourself," Sandstorm comforted him.

"Prime, please listen to me," Topspin motivated him. "We dive into the battle against those Decepticons and we were winning until… we were beaten by Megatron… we didn't stand a chance against him until… you show up. You fought your way through dozens of Decepticons and you fought him alone and beat him."

"But he-"

"You beat him! If he hasn't cheated, you would've beaten that murderer in a microsecond. Matrix or not, you're still our leader! You're still our Optimus Prime! We need our leader. Our friends need their leader. Your friends need you, Prime. The galaxy needs Optimus Prime."

Optimus sat there in silence while he listened to his Autobot motivational speech. He slowly picked himself up without the help of his Autobots and stood tall. "Autobots, whatever this new threat is, we will stop it no matter what. This threat is not only a danger to Cybertron but every sentient life of all existence. This monster must be stopped no matter what." The Wreckers cheered their leader during his speech. "Autobots! Roll out!" The Autobots transform into their vehicle mode and begin searching for their allies.

Nearby, Hot Rod just finished repairing Kup from his injuries. "That does it. Well, what do you think," he asked the veteran.

Kup walked around while he moved his head and arms as well, testing his joints. "Of all the circuit glitches, diodes blowing dim weary, you left a piece out," he yelled at the young Autobot.

"No way! You're just a little stiff."

"Anyway, all things considered, you did an amazing job lad. Amazing."

"Really?"

"Of course. How did you learn to fix an old bot like me, lad?"

"I learned from the best."

"Yeah, you even got rid of a nasty bar on my rotator. Now let's find Prime and those Dinobots and get off this twisted planet."

Hot Rod and Kup transform into their vehicle mode as they drive across the planet, searching for their friends. Suddenly, they stumbled across a lake and numerous Allicons emerged from the water. The young soldier was about to defend himself until the veteran stopped him and told him, "Don't act hostile. I'll use the universal greeting."

"Universal greeting," Hot Rod asked, confused.

"Watch, I'll have them eating out of my hand… Bah weeps graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong."

"Bah weeps graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong," Hot Rod took note of the greeting.

The monster-like beings repeated their greetings while they were becoming less hostile. "See, the universal greeting works every time. Now, without making any sudden moves, offer them an energon goody."

Both Kup and Hot Rod took out containers of energons to offer to the creatures as they all rushed to them and ate the energons while enjoying it but there were too many of them. They all desired more energons to eat until the young bot told them they ran out of treats. The beasts became aggressive as they all tackled the Autobots and trapped them as their prisoners.

The beasts took the two into their lair while Kup was chatting with Hot Rod as they were being taken to their doom. "This reminds me of the Niter Slave Mine on Golgonath Seven."

"Everyplace reminds you of someplace else," Hot Rod told him.

"Experience, lad. You should learn to appreciate it."

"Lots of good done to us so far."

They've been taken to the beasts' masters, the Quintessons. The two Autobots were placed before their masters on their knees for judgment. "My master," a prosecutor bowed to his leaders, "the Allicons brought us two new witnesses for the trial. These pests were illegally feeding them with rare energons."

"Autobots," the Quintesson judge hisses at the two.

"You know who we are," Hot Rod said, confused.

"More than you know, Cybertronian," the judge said as it spoke from each face. "We have known about your race since the beginning. Your race was destined to be enslaved. And now your race shall become extinct."

"What do you mean?! What are you talking about?!"

"ENOUGH!!! Throw these pests in with the others. They shall all be judged."

The Autobots have been taken into a prison cell while the Allicons mock them with the universal greeting as the Quintesson begins to laugh sinisterly as it rotates each of its faces. When the two were tossed in, they were trapped in a cell with three other robotic beings as the two of them panicked. "Jeez, what is this place," Hot Rod asked.

"The world of the savage Sharkticons and their cruel masters the Quintessons," one of the prisoners told the Autobots as he emerged from the shadows, revealing to be the survivor of the destroyed planet Lithone.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"I am Kranix. My planet was destroyed by Unicron."

"Unicron? Who's Unicron?"

"A planet that devours everything in its path."

"So that's the monster's name."

"Do any of you know how we can escape," Kup asked them.

"It doesn't matter. Escape or not, the Quintessons will feed us all to the Sharkticons."

"Sharkticons," Hot Rod asked, confused.

Kranix led them to a widow and pointed towards a deadly pool with shark-like monsters swimming within. "The Sharkticons. Their masters feed the guilty party to their pets for their own amusement. Soon, they will feed us to them."

"Not the end I'd wish for, lad," Kup told Hot Rod.

"I hope Optimus and the others will find us soon or we'll never go back home," Hot Rod told him.

Meanwhile, Galvatron's flagship returns to Unicron after being tortured by his master recently. The evil tyrant stood before the surface of the planet eater and cried, "Unicron! Why did you torture me?!"

"You have failed," the giant demon told him.

"No Unicron! Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime are dead! And the Matrix is destroyed!"

"The Matrix… has not been destroyed… Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime still live…"

"What?! Impossible! They both were destroyed! I saw their deaths before my own eyes!"

"You are a fool… They both still live… Ultra Magnus is on the planet of Junk… and Optimus Prime is on the homeworld of the Quintessons…"

"Then I shall kill Prime with my bare hands!"

"NOO!! You shall hunt down Ultra Magnus… He bears the Matrix of Leadership… Stalk him… tear him apart… and destroy the Matrix."

"As you command…"

As Galvatron returns to his flagship, Starscream flies over to the cruiser and sneaks inside while carrying a bag as the ship is taking off… He sneaks his way through the halls while avoiding patrolling Decepticons until he hides in a supply room. The Seeker puts the bag on the ground and unwraps it to reveal Megatron's destroyed fusion cannon.

"Soon you'll regret humiliating me and overthrowing me, Megatron," the traitorous Decepticon talks to himself. "I'll take my rightful place as the true leader of the Decepticons and I will finally eliminate you and your followers. But first… I'm going to need some assistance."