Author's Note: And here by popular demand is chapter 5 of this story! Just in case you haven't noticed, all of my crossovers come in pairs, so there will be a sequel to this story.

Disclaimer: Blah.

Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 5: The Conflict Begins

"What are Jaridians?" Ultra Rodimus asked sharply.

"They are our mortal enemies," Da'an explained, hands moving nervously. "We have been at war with them for years. They send probes through space to hunt us down."

"The probes create replicants capable of posing as ordinary humans, but with incredible strength and powerful energy weapons," Liam added. "They are very difficult to destroy."

"The probe has impacted!" one of the Taelon crew members called.

"Find it and destroy it!" Zo'or commanded.

Once the impact site had been located, Sandoval and Liam went out to destroy it. Ultra Rodimus followed, curious and bored. Liam flew the insect-shaped shuttle to the coordinates.

"I think we have a problem," Liam announced grimly, staring into the clearing created by the crashing probe.

"You think?" Ultra Rodimus snapped sarcastically. "What tipped you off, the crater or the corpse?"

The trees had been damaged by the impact. Broken branches littered the ground, and tattered leaves were still falling. Thick tree trunks had been splintered. One huge tree had been nearly sheared in half. The ground now sported a massive crater, a good fifteen feet across and six feet deep. The undergrowth had been seared black by the heat of the probe's shell. A bear trap, twisted and partially crushed, dangled from its chain. The probe had struck it, rendering it useless, a fact from which Ultra Rodimus gained some measure of satisfaction. He liked bears, gentle yet fierce. Near the edge of the crater lay the body of a hunter, a powerful rifle clenched in his hand, his chest a blackened crater. Terror was etched on his face.

There was no sign of the probe.

Ultra Rodimus walked over to the body and leaned down to inspect the ruins of the man's chest. "This isn't impact damage. This is a laser burn. Whatever shot him has a weapon powerful enough to blow a full-grown human male nearly in half."

"The probe changed itself to look like him, then killed him and left," Liam deduced.

Sandoval picked up a branch and prodded at something caught in a bush. A bundle of something brown tumbled out. Startled, Sandoval jumped back.

Ultra Rodimus snorted. "It won't bite you." He picked up the object and shook it out. "It's a bearskin. Grizzly by the look of it. Isn't that illegal?"

Sandoval glared at him and stalked away. Liam nodded to Ultra Rodimus and went back to searching for any traces of the probe. The Autobot Prime growled something unprintable under his breath, folded the skin, and tucked it under his arm.

"Here." Liam tossed him the hunter's backpack. "Put it in there."

"Thanks." Ultra Rodimus did so, then slung the pack over his shoulder. "Now let's go hunt a far more dangerous prey."

"What does Falcon have to say?"

Ultra Rodimus consulted the skrill. "It says the replicant is heading in that general direction." He waved a hand northwest. "It can sense the probe's backtrail, but only vaguely."

"Then I suggest we split up and track it down," Sandoval interrupted.

The trio went in different directions. Ultra Rodimus followed the path Falcon had sensed.

For the first half hour, there was no sign of the probe. Then Ultra Rodimus's instincts began to scream dire warnings. He froze, then began to rotate, looking in all directions but seeing nothing. Finally, he stood perfectly still and listened.

A stick broke. He jerked around.

Something blurry moved. He brought his skrill arm up, and Falcon discharged a powerful energy blast at the shape. The impact made the whatever-it-was take a single step back. Then it decloaked.

The probe had discarded the dead hunter's shape. It was a bipedal metallic object, looking like a cross between an alien insect and a metal slag pile. One arm ended in a very large energy weapon. And it was pointed

Right.

At.

Him.

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Magnus groaned as he came around. He glared at the medic standing nearby.

"Dirty trick," he growled.

"But it worked," First Aid retorted. "You needed to rest."

The red and blue Autobot pushed himself to his feet. He was about to leave the medical bay when Perceptor hurried in.

"I have discovered the entrance!" the scientist blurted.

"What?!?!" Magnus almost yelled, but he caught himself just in time.

"I have located the entrance to the dimensional breach," the scientist repeated. "If we duplicate the method of its opening, we can open it to the dimension where Ultra Rodimus is."

"Then what are you waiting for?! Get to it!"

Perceptor was out of the repair bay and sprinting down the corridor as fast as he could move before Magnus even took a single step forward.

To be continued...

Well, that's chapter 5. Next, face-off with a replicant and Zo'or meets Ultra Rodimus's mate. If you wanna read it, send me reviews!