Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to Dustformers: Season 2. I hope you all liked Wreck 'N' Rule. That's the third multi-parter of this season, but not the last. In the final part, Ruby got her Transtector and became Rosebud, Frostsprite revealed her Cryoshock Rifle, Impactor helped out in destroying Project: Mindfazer, returning all the minds of Mistral City back to their owners and Yang's back to her body. In the end, they took the wreckage of Project: Mindfazer back with them.

Back on Cybertron, Straxus seems to be contemplating his next move now that he knows Megatron's still alive on Remnant.

Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

Nitro zeus

These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support as well as yours.

Now, let's transform and roll out!

*Vale. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 19:45 pm*

Yang, Ruby, and the others were sitting around with Tai, Summer, Raven, and Qrow. Jaune had just finished explaining what happened to Yang in Mistral. "Wow. That's quite something."

"Really? That's all you have to say?!" Ruby asked incredulously, tears threatening to spill out. "Your mind got stolen! I was so scared I'd never get you back!"

Yang quickly wrapped her arms around Ruby. "Hey, hey. I'm sorry. I was just keeping you out of trouble. That's what I do." She said softly. "Look on the bright side, you unlocked your Transtector!"

"That's true, Ruby. Rosebud seems to have a great advantage in speed." Blake added with a small smile.

"Little good that did. Shockwave still kicked my ass." Ruby groaned.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Ruby." Wildfire said as she walked over. "Not many actually try to fight Shockwave. He can fight all the Dinobots single-handedly, and has done so multiple times."

"Wait, for real?!" Nora asked, shocked.

"Oh, yeah. Back to you, though. Kudos, Ruby. Kudos." Wildfire smiled.

"Thanks. So, Pyrrha, you said you had help in destroying Project: Mindfazer?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, a harpoon came out of nowhere and smashed through to its core." Pyrrha answered as she brought out her scroll to show everyone. "Look familiar?"

"Isn't that… Impactor's harpoon?" Ren asked softly.

"I think it is." Weiss replied. "Why would he help us?"

"I think because he wants to try and make it up to Ironhide." Nora suddenly spoke up. "He must feel guilty after all."

"Well, I'm going to hit the sack. Let's tell our folks we're staying at Ruby and Yang's place for the night." Jaune yawned.

"Yay! Sleepover!" Ruby cheered. The others rolled their eyes with smiles at Ruby's childness. "Classic Ruby." They all thought. An hour later, they were all sleeping in various parts of the house with smiles on their faces.

*Dreamscape. Unknown Time*

The eight kids were back in the dreamscape. "We're back here again?" Yang asked out loud.

"Welcome back, kids…" A voice called out to them. The eight turned around to see Asteria standing before them who was unfamiliar to everyone but Weiss.

"Asteria?" Weiss asked, to which Asteria nodded. "What are you doing here if you don't mind my asking?"

"Nice to see you again, Weiss Schnee. With all your friends joining you this time. Very sweet." Asteria clasped her hands together.

"I'm assuming this is the robot from your dream, Weiss?" Ren asked which Weiss nodded as her answer.

"I saw what happened with Project: Mindfazer is the area on your planet called Mistral." Asteria said.

"You have?" Blake asked. "How is that even possible?"

"Something for another time, Blake Belladonna. Not only that, but Jaune, Nora, Weiss, and Ruby have all unlocked Transtectors out of their desire to protect their loved ones as well as your world. That is truly admirable."

"Thank you, Asteria. However, I have a feeling that's not the only reason you've appeared in our dreamscape." Ren guessed.

"You are correct, Lie Ren. I have come to tell you of a secret that may have been mentioned by other Transformers that appeared in your individual dreamscapes."

The kids looked at each other, wondering what Asteria was even talking about. "Wait a minute!" Ruby piped up "There was a Transformer in my dreamscape with Yang that mentioned a secret! I think their name was Helia!"

"Did Helia mention what the secret was?" Asteria asked immediately. When Ruby and Yang shook their heads, Asteria just sighed. "To find out the secret, you all must travel to the continent called Vacuo."

"Vacuo? What's in Vacuo?" The kids asked before there was a bright light.

*Vale. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 6:11 am*

The kids woke up, all of them sweating like crazy. "Oh, man." Yang panted.

"You said it." Ruby added. "That was a new experience even more so than unlocking Rosebud."

"Asteria told us to go to Vacuo to search for a clue." Weiss remembered.

"Ooohhh! Like a mystery movie!" Nora had a starry-eyed expression with a wide grin.

"If we're doing this, we have to bring a lot of water. Vacuo is basically a desert, after all." Jaune reminded. "Not to mention the Decepticons if they're even in Vacuo right now, and let's not even get into Ironwood and the Atlas Military still up our asses." Jaune was beginning to ramble.

"No need to worry, Jaune. We're prepared." Pyrrha reassured putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, resulting in him smiling slightly at the action.

"Thank you, Pyrrha. I was starting to ramble, wasn't I?" Jaune asked sheepishly.

"It's okay, Jaune. Just remember to stay calm and that you can talk to us if there's anything wrong." Pyrrha reminded with her kind, warming smile.

"Anyway, the only one who hasn't seen a unique Transformer in their individual dreams is you, Pyrrha. I wonder why that is." Jaune brought up.

"Now, that you mention it, that is pretty odd." Ren voiced.

Just then, Summer, Raven, Qrow, and Tai walked into the living room. "Are you all okay today?" Summer asked, quickly concerned.

"We're fine, Mom. However, we're going to get ready to head to Vacuo." Ruby answered.

"Vacuo? Are you all sure that's a good idea?" Qrow voiced, his own concern showing through. "I've heard the Atlas Military is acting in that continent. If any of them see even one of you guys, Irondickless gets wind of it and immediately tries to capture you."

"Winter didn't tell me that." Weiss said quietly.

"Remember, Weiss: Your sister is technically an Atlesian Military fugitive." Tai cut in. "Maybe Ironwood's been keeping the missions on the down-low since you all were in Atlas last."

"After we saved their asses from the Decepticons from slaughtering them. That's gratitude for you." Nora growled.

"Not to mention Ironwood held back vital information regarding Grimmlord." Ren added calmly.

"The main reason Dr. Lucas Clovis defected with Winter. Though, I have a feeling Atlas isn't done yet." Blake put in her own two cents.

"I have that exact feeling, Blake." Jaune said. "General Ironwood's probably been off the deep end since Winter and the others defected."

"Look at it this way, Jauney boy: We're not going back to Atlas unless we absolutely have to." Yang responded.

"That is true, though I still want us to remain vigilant since they are in Vacuo." Jaune reaffirmed softly.

"We will, Jaune." Ruby smiled which turned sheepish. "I kind of learned that lesson after I unlocked my Transtector."

"Hey, you unlocked it and that's something amazing in it's own right." Yang smiled.

"Just be careful, okay?" Raven asked walking into the living room. "I don't want you ending up in the hospital again." She hugged Yang.

"We'll do our best to be careful, Mom." Yang whispered as she hugged Raven back.

*Vacuo. Vacuo Grand Desert. Atlas Military Unit. 6:59 am*

The Atlesian Military had set up a moderately sized base camp and were currently scoping out the area. "This area's all clear, General Ironwood." A Private informed.

"Very well, Private." General Ironwood acknowledged. "Continue searching. We must find any Cybertronian parts or tech that we can use."

"Yes, sir." The Private saluted and went back to searching.

*Vacuo. Vacuo Grand Desert. Near Atlas Military Unit Base Camp. 7:10 am*

The kids arrived through the ground bridge and saw the Atlas base camp. "Looks like Uncle Qrow was right on the money." Yang muttered.

"They must be searching for Cybertronian tech to reverse-engineer." Jaune correctly guessed.

"We must steer clear of them." Ren pointed out. "If even one of them sees us…"

"Right, Renny." Nora whispered which surprised the others given her exuberance. "Alright, let's start the search." With that, the group started searching the desert while steering clear of the Atlas Military. Though, they had a couple of very close calls.

A half-hour later, Pyrrha spotted something seemingly glittering in the desert sunlight. She silently gestured for the others to come towards her. "I think I found something." She whispered. When everyone else got there, they saw it was something that seemed eerily similar to the object that got them involved with the Transformers in the first place. However, there were a couple of differences: This object was at least two times bigger than the other object, it had a bunch of strange carvings, and this one didn't have the Autobot symbol. "What is this?"

"We'll have to take it with us to find out. Now, who's the best at deciphering ancient carvings?" Jaune asked quietly.

Weiss raised her hand immediately. "Optimus actually gave me a decryptor for stuff like this. I can take this back home with me and work on it."

"Alright, Weiss. We're entrusting you with this." Ruby said.

"Thank you, now let's get the hell out of here." Weiss gestured.

Suddenly, Atlas Military personnel had their weapons trained right on them. "You all have the right to remain silent unless spoken to. You all are coming back to Atlas. General Ironwood's been anxious to talk to you again." One of them said.

"Yeah, right. Talk." Yang growled. "More like hold against our will for any information."

"Be silent, fugitive!" Another soldier shouted. "You're conspiring with extraterrestrials, helping them to weaken us!"

"If by conspiring with them, you mean helping them defend our world from the real threat, you idiotic bastards!" Nora snarled. "We won't tell you anything!"

"Oh, you seem so sure of yourself." A third soldier mocked. "We're the ones with the weapons pointed right at you and your friends."

"I thought you guys would be smarter after your general held back information regarding the giant one that showed up in Atlas." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow with a frown.

Suddenly, a portal opened up right above the two groups and a metallic sphere dropped through it. Seconds later, the sphere released a white smoke, making the Atlas Military soldiers start coughing while the kids were unaffected. A large metal hand familiar to the kids reached out. Without saying a word, they grabbed onto it as it pulled them through the ground bridge, narrowly escaping capture from the Atlas Military.

*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Main Lobby. 7:51 am*

"Whew! Didn't think that would work." Wheeljack sighed.

"You saved our asses once again, Wheeljack." Yang grinned.

"Not only that, but we got away with this." Weiss held what they found in Vacuo out in the open.

"That's a Cybertronian relic!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Where did you find this?!"

"We found it in Vacuo." Weiss responded. "I'm gonna take it home with me and start analyzing it."

"Fair enough, but don't hesitate to bring it back to us." Wheeljack stated. "Still, I'm baffled at how you knew it was in Vacuo."

"Actually, it was a Transformer in my dream that led us to Vacuo." Weiss added.

"Really?" Elita was becoming intrigued. "Who was this Transformer?"

"Her name was Asteria." Weiss replied, causing Elita's optics to widen.

"I see. Thank you for telling me." Elita responded quietly as she walked to her quarters.

*Outer Space. Unknown Location. Unknown Time.*

A lone ship was traveling through deep space. Inside was a magenta, orange, yellow, and red Autobot with three what looked to be thrusters/exhaust pipes on each arm, and flame decals on the chassis. "I hope I'm not too late to find any Autobots out there."

Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter of Dustformers: Season 2. This was but another prelude chapter for something bigger afoot. Weiss sees Asteria again along with the others this time who tells them to look for clues in Vacuo. They do so, only to wind up back in the crosshairs of the Atlas Military. Luckily, they escape thanks to the Autobots. Weiss takes the strange relic with her to start analyzing it. She also let's the Autobots know about Asteria appearing in her dreams which intrigues Elita-1.

Now, there wasn't much action in this chapter, but it also serves as a decompressor from Wreck 'N' Rule. Plus, we're getting closer to another, bigger multi-parter of the Dustformers series, possibly the biggest one.

Also, Hot Rod cameo.

As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.

PS: I actually came up with this prelude chapter in a dream I had. See you all next time in Dustformers: Season 2.