Detroit lay in pieces for the most part. Several structures were damaged in the battle against a rebuilt Megatron.
"This is a big cleanup job, even for a bunch of maintenance bots like us," said Bulkhead as he lifted rubble out of Optimus' trailer.
They then heard the sound of a car horn.
"One moment, ma'am," said Optimus transforming into robot mode.
He then began removing the rubble that was blocking the road, but upon seeing him, humans panicked.
"Don't hurt us!" said the female driver.
Almost instantly, every single one of the vehicles drove off in the opposite direction.
"Those humans were afraid of me," said Optimus sadly.
"Can you blame them? After all, we trashed half their city," Ratchet grumbled.
"I believe the Decepticons did most of the trashing," Prowl remained.
"I liked it better when we were heroes," Bulkhead sighed as he sat down on a boulder.
Optimus looked at the destruction; the damage was far more extensive than when Starscream attacked. Additionally, there was also one bot down. Blackarachnia was currently back at base on spark support. There was no telling when she would wake up; they weren't even sure whether she would.
"We're still heroes, Bulkhead," said Optimus turning to Bulkhead. "We just have to remind. Now let's all get back to work.
"Hey, where is Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked, noting that the little mech was missing. "Isn't he supposed to be helping too?"
Bumblebee was at Professor Sumdac's office helping Sari, who had now taken over her father's company.
"Isaac Sumdac's office; please hold. Isaac Sumdac's office; please hold. Isaac Sumdac's office; please hold. Isaac Sumdac's office, thank you for holding. No. Mr Sumdac hasn't returned from his…extended vacation yet," Bumblebee ran left and right, filing, stacking, and sorting. "Of course, someone's running the company! Someone very capable." Bumblebee looked over at Sari, who was banging her head on the desk, rattling the piles of paperwork.
"Ugh!" Sari screamed. "No wonder my dad acted so crazy! How did he do this?!" Just then, an alert for a vid-chat blinked on the screen, and Porter C. Powell appeared on the computer.
"Ms Sumdac, as the chairman of your board of directors, I've been going through the books and found that you're still burning through our valuable resources searching for your missing father. Isn't it time that you just accepted that he—"
"NO!" Sari slammed her fist on the keyboard, breaking a few of the keys off. "He's my dad! And if I were missing, he'd do the same for me!"
"Young lady, there's no room for sentiment in business. A mere child can't be trusted to make sound decisions for this company."
"This company's name is still Sumdac! So until I find my dad, I'm staying right here, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Sari slammed her finger on the "End" button, and Powell's face disappeared. Sari sighed and buried her head in her palms.
"Hold all my calls," Sari told Bumblebee, "I need a break."
"Okay, boss-lady," Bumblebee nodded. "But you might wanna take a look at this." He pointed at the television, which showed a large fireball falling.
"All eyes are on the sky as a mysterious object from space enters earth's atmosphere heading straight for downtown Detroit," the television reported.
All eyes were on the mysterious object as it flew over the town.
"Did you guys see that?" Bumblebee asked as he and Sari ran over to the other Autobots.
"We better look into it. Autobots transform and roll out!" Optimus ordered.
The Autobots, Metro police, and civilians stared with the same awestruck expression at the huge blue and white spaceship which took up all of Detroit Central Park.
"Secure the perimeter!" Fanzone shouted over the megaphone, "We're not taking any chances this time!"
"Have your men stand down; let us handle this?" said Optimus.
"And let you guys wreck the other half of Detroit? I don't think so!" Fanzone laughed.
The main hatch opened, and then three robots stood in the hatchway. They were Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Prime, and Jazz.
"Robots? Why does it have to be robots?" Fanzone complained.
Optimus and his crew stepped forward, lined up and saluting.
"Ultra Magnus, sir! Welcome to Earth," said Optimus. "It's an honour—"
"Jazz set up a force field to quarantine us from these organics," Ultra Magnus ordered, almost disregarding Optimus.
Jazz looked at the humans curiously. "You sure that's necessary, commander? I'd like to get a closer look?"
"You might feel different once the slime they spit out melts for your armour plating and fried your circuits from the inside," said Sentinel.
"Really?"
"I had some experience with organics, and believe me, nothing good can come from contact with them," said Sentinel and then sneered at Optimus. "Isn't that right, Optimus? And by the way, where is your freak of a second command? Did you come to your senses and ditch her?"
"Maybe she just didn't want to see your ugly mug," said a voice with a British accent.
Optimus looked up and saw, leaning against the ramp, was, Moonracer.
"Moonracer?" he stared. "What are you doing here?"
"I question I keep asking myself," Sentinel glared. "You were given a direct order to remain inside the ship."
"I'm a civilian. I don't take orders from the military, especially not pompous, egotistical morons such as yourself," Moonracer smirked.
Sentinel glared at her. "I should throw you in the brig!"
"Enough!" Ultra Magnus yelled, slamming his hammer on the ground. "Activate the force field!"
"Yes, sir," said Sentinel activating the force field himself.
A force field then began to cover the entire ship, and Sari desperately ran towards the ship.
"Hey, what's the big idea!" Sari yelled, banging against the force field.
"Sentinel Prime, decontaminate Optimus Prime and his crew," Ultra Magnus ordered.
"With pleasure, sir," Sentinel smiled devilishly.
Sentinel took them to the decontamination area and took immense pleasure blasting the Autobots with a stream of foam to which they complained. Jazz and Moonracer just watched disapprovingly.
"Watch the foam!" Ratchet barked.
"Those were humans, not space barnacles!" Prowl pleaded.
"You, tiny!" Sentinel pointed at Bumblebee. "Step out from behind, your overgrown pal!" Bumblebee walked out from behind Bulkhead with a face full of foam.
"I don't think he remembers us," Bulkhead whispered to him.
"And that's just how I wanna keep it," Bumblebee said glumly.
"This is completely unnecessary, Sentinel!" Optimus yelled, blocking his eyes from a stream.
"Can't risk an infestation, old buddy," Sentinel sneered. "Don't want you ending up like your techno-organic freak. Take it like a real bot."
Jazz shut off the decontamination chamber before Sentinel could continue.
"Cool it, Sentinel. Whatever went down between you and Optimus, you don't need to hassle his crew," Jazz frowned.
"Besides, he's 10 times the bot you could ever hope to be," said Moonracer.
"I should never have agreed to allow you to tag along," Sentinel grumbled as he left the chamber.
Moonracer narrowed her eyes and then approached Optimus as they stepped out of the chamber. "Despite the circumstances, it's good to see you again, Optimus."
"Likewise, Moonracer," Optimus smiled.
"Who are you anyway?" Bumblebee asked.
"Moonracer, a reporter from Cybertron News and just like Optimus and Elita, I trained at the Autobot Academy," she explained.
"Then what are you doing here?" Ratchet asked. "This is a military vessel."
"Despite the best efforts of the Elite Guard, they couldn't hide the fact that your crew found the AllSpark. When the patrol ship reached your last known coordinates, there was evidence of a battle, and there was no trace of you. Everyone assumed that all of you went offline in the line of duty."
"Wait, everyone back home, things were offline?" said Bulkhead.
"You were given a state funeral, and Sentinel was forced to give you a decent farewell. Anyway, a few orbital cycles ago, we detected a powerful energy signature. When I caught wind of this, I blackmailed Sentinel to let me tag along."
"You blackmailed Sentinel?" Optimus stared.
"He cares nothing but his career; it was rather easy to find some dirt. Anyway, we track the energy signature to this planet, and here we are, but I must ask where is Elita."
"It's a long story," said Optimus.
Outside, Sari was deeply concerned for her friends.
"They're trapped! Held against their will!" Sari yelled to Fanzone. "We've gotta get 'em out!"
"Nah, no-no-no. I ain't about to provoke an 'intergalactic incident'," said Fanzone shooking his head.
Soon everyone was on the bridge, standing before Ultra Magnus
"I cleaned them up as best I could, sir, but you know how it is with these Greece grunts," Sentinel snorted.
"That will be all Sentinel Prime," Magnus motioned. "We've already wasted enough time and resources tracking down these stragglers. So if it's all the same to you, we'll just retrieve the AllSpark and be on our way."
"Yeah, about that," said Bumblebee uncomfortably, "Funny story. It kinda… uh—"
"Blew up," Bulkhead finished.
Everyone then stared at them in horror.
"What? The AllSpark has been destroyed?!" Magnus gasped.
"Not exactly destroyed, sir," Optimus corrected, "More like its energy was 'dispersed.' At least that's what I think."
"Wow," Sentinel raised a brow, "You have made some pretty bad blunders in your day, Optimus. But this one tops 'em all!" He laughed.
"He's a slaggin' hero for keepin' it from Megatron and the Decepticons!" Ratchet barked.
"Stand down, rust bucket. Your boss is a lot of things, but a hero ain't one of 'em. We did a full sweep of the entire planet and haven't found a single trace of any Decepticons."
"That's cuz we kicked their sorry cans!" Bumblebee injected.
"You expect us to believe that a bunch of glitch detailed flunkies could beat Megatron?"
"Then how about we hear their side of the story instead of throwing insults," Moonracer interjected.
"You be quiet; you have no say in what goes on with military matters," Sentinel glared.
"Sentinel Prime, Moonracer is correct; let us see hear what Optimus Prime has to say for himself," said Ultra Magnus.
The Decepticons were hiding out in an old mine, still recovering from their battle with the Autobots and Dinobots.
"Gah! Why do we hide here like cowards?! We should stand and fight the accursed Autobots!" Lugnut roared and shook his fists in the air. His arm then popped off at the shoulder and clanked on the ground.
"Patience Lugnut," Megatron said. "These carbon deposits shield us from detection while we recover from our last encounter with them." Megatron looked around the mine and then walked to the computer panel. "Besides, I have my sights set on a far bigger prize:" Megatron pulled up an image of their home planet, "Cybertron itself."
"Oh! Zat sounds crazy! Aha, even to me!" Blitzwing chuckled. Lugnut slapped him to the floor with his disembodied arm.
"How dare you doubt the word of our glorious leader?!" Lugnut demanded. "But uh, master? How will you pull off this uh stunning victory?"
"Two things led to our defeat in the Great Wars: the AllSpark, and the Autobots' exclusive space bridge technology," Megatron explained. "The AllSpark, as we all know, is no longer a factor. but during my battle aboard the Autobots' ship, I was able to download a schematic for one of their space bridges."
"Intriguing," Blitzwing eyed the schematic, "If we reverse engineer their schematic, we can construct our own space bridge. ZEN BEAM OURSELVES TO CYBERTRON AND CONQUER THE PLANET FROM WITHIN!"
"This just one glitch," Megatron said. "The specs are incomplete. We will need assistance to filling in the gaps. And who better than to assist than the master of reverse engineering?" Megatron turned his gaze to the man sitting in a small lab that was sealed off by thick glass walls. "Professor Isaac Sumdac."
"You cannot trick me into helping you this time, Megatron," Sumdac said defiantly. "The Autobots will come for me."
"And yet thus far they have not. Why do you suppose that is? Could it have something to do with the fact that you resurrected their worst enemy? Right now, the only thing keeping you alive is your usefulness to me."
Optimus had just finished explaining what had happened on earth, but Sentinel did not look convinced.
"I'll give you points for creativity on your bogus story Optimus, but where's your proof?" said Sentinel crossing his arms. "Show me one shred of evidence that the AllSpark wasn't completely destroyed on your watch."
"You have my word," said Optimus.
"Ha! And we all know what that's worth? Don't we?"
"I trust his word more than I trust yours," said Moonracer.
"Then it's fortunate that you don't have a say in these proceedings; you are, after all, just a lonely reporter. If you're convinced by such a bogus story from a washout from the Elite Guard that your choice, but the real decisions must be made by real heroes."
"Come on, Boss-bot," Bulkhead nudged. "Why don't ya stand up for yourself?"
"Because he knows his place."
"HOW BOUT I PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE?!" Bulkhead charged, but Bumblebee, Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet stopped him, while Jazz and Moonracer held back Sentinel from attacking.
"Bulkhead, no!" Prowl yelled.
"Easy big guy," said Bumblebee.
"This cyber clown isn't worth it," said Ratchet.
"Stand down! All of you!" Ultra Magnus yelled as he slammed his hammer down on the ground. The room immediately became quiet. "These are serious charges, and they will be investigated. Optimus Prime show us where the Decepticon battle took place. Your crew will stay with Jazz until this matter is settled."
"As you know, I scanned some earth vehicles so we wouldn't track attention to ourselves," said Sentinel.
"Good work Sentinel Prime! Transform," Ultra Magnus ordered.
They transformed into their vehicle modes. Ultra Magnus transformed into an 8-wheeled Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, while Sentinel transformed into a snowplough.
"Oh yeah, no one's going to notice that," said Bumblebee sarcastically.
"I'm going to go outside myself; I wish to visit Elita," said Moonracer and turned her eyes towards Ultra Magnus. "Unless anyone has a problem with me visiting an old friend?"
"I'll allow it, but keep a low profile," said Ultra Magnus.
Moonracer smiled and then transformed into a silver convertible. "I chose this vehicle form myself."
"Glad to see this one bot knows how to blend in," Prowl whispered.
Outside, the shield dissipated, and the hatch opened up on the ship. Everyone then watched as Optimus stepped out outside.
"Look! Prime's okay!" Sari exclaimed.
"It's all right! They're on our side!" Optimus assured everyone.
He then transformed into robot mode, and Ultra Magnus and Sentinel drove off the hatch towards Fanzone's perimeter. Most of the officers had to jump out of the way of them as Sentinel smashed through two police cars and Fanzone's car.
"That's good. I was worried they might, you know. Destroy something!" Fanzone frowned.
Moonracer then drove up to Fanzone. "Apologies, Sentinel is not known for his diplomacy, and he has a massive ego to match his chin. I would recommend that you warn on the road to give him a wide berth."
"At least someone here knows manners," Fanzone muttered.
Moonracer then drove off, making her way towards the Autobot base.
"Wait! What about the others?!" Sari exclaimed. She ran towards the ship, but the shield reappeared, and she bonked her face against it. "Oh, man." She rubbed her nose.
They continued to drive down the street; Optimus was leading the way when he noticed that Ultra Magnus was driving on the other side of the road.
"Uh, Commander, here on Earth, we drive on the right side of the road," Optimus exclaimed.
"Ultra Magnus is not interested in the opinions of a scrub!" Sentinel snapped, shoving him out of the way and took a sharp turn on the highway exit.
"Sentinel, wait!" Optimus yelled.
Seven ignored him and continued making his way up the highway, hitting a number of barriers off the road. He then screamed as he drove off the unfinished highway, crashed into a concrete pillar, bounced off and landed sideways on the ground.
Moonracer had managed to reach the Autobot base without any kind of incident. Once she was inside, she transformed into robot mode.
"Not a bad setup; nice to see that Optimus and Elita haven't lost their touch," she said and then started to make her way to the med bay. "Let's see, the med bay should be right here."
She found the med bay all right and found Blackarachnia on spark support. She was extremely badly damaged, especially her arms.
Moonracer then approached her. "Elita, it's me, Moonracer. I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here for you no matter what."
At the Decepticons base, Professor Sumdac was now forced to work on Megatron's space bridge project.
"Space bridges. I don't know anything about space bridges. I don't claim to know anything about them. This is not even my area of expertise. I do servo mechanics, not teleportation!" Sumdac complained while he worked on the schematics. Just then, his robot assistant threw a box at his computer and then started dancing wildly. "I'm sorry! I won't complain anymore! I promise!"
"You! You did that on purpose!" Lugnut accused, "To sabotage Megatron's brilliant plan!" Lugnut then lowered the force field.
"No! no! he just went crazy! I swear!" Professor Sumdac pleaded.
Megatron then aimed his cannon and fired, destroying the droid and causing Professor Sumdac to cower in his chair.
"He's telling the truth," said Megatron picking up a piece of the droid. "There is a fragment of the AllSpark embedded in these circuits. The AllSpark may not have been completely destroyed. There may still be pockets of its energy scattered all over this city… all over this planet. Each one capable of instilling its life force to the most basic cybernetic constructions.
And just as Megatron spoke, an AllSpark fragment activated at a Sumdac Systems assembly plant. The energy surged through the building. Several microprocessors being implanted in police drones glowed blue. And as the drones moved through the plant, their lights started to glow the same energetic blue
Sari felt the shield. It felt like flowing water beneath her palm, yet it was so solid. She jumped when her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket and answered.
"Hello?" she asked. It was Powell again.
"There's a problem at the factory. The assembly line for the police drones has gone haywire," said Powell.
"Can't you fix it?"
"I thought the company name was 'Sumdac.'" Powell gave a smug smirk.
"Ugh! Fine! I'll do it myself," Sari grumbled and clicked it off. "With a little help from my assistant." Sari pulled her key off her necklace. "I wonder." She pushed the key through the field and cut through it like butter. A small slit appeared where she cut. "Yes!" She inched through it and got inside just as it sealed back.
Sari wandered through the seemingly endless hallways. And after five minutes of searching, she hadn't found any signs of life. And before she could search any further, she accidentally tripped an alarm.
"Organic contamination alert!" said Jazz's voice. Then blast doors and running down the hall was Jazz, but he stopped the moment he saw Sari. "Contamination located."
"Who are you calling a contamination?" said Sari putting her hands on her hips.
"Stay cool and roll back off the ship nice and easy like. And don't even think of spewing any of ya slime at me," said Jazz.
"Slime? What are you—? Oh, you're afraid of me, aren't you?" Sari smirked and jumped up and waved her hands wildly. "Booga booga booga!"
"Ah!" Jazz yelled and jumped up on one leg and shielded himself with his arms and other leg from the anticipated slime that never came.
"What's going on here?" Ratchet asked, running into the hallway followed by the other Autobots.
"Guys!" Sari said and ran to Bumblebee and hugged his leg as Jazz quickly tiptoed out of the way.
"Stay back! You don't wanna be slimed!" Jazz warned.
"Relax, it's just Sari. She's perfectly safe," Bulkhead assured.
"But Sentinel—"
"Is a glitch head, all due respect," said Bumblebee.
"Crazy. These organics… they got their own look… their own style," said Jazz poking Sari's head.
"Guys! I need your help. Something's wrong at one of my dad's assembly plants. Come on!" said Sari tugging on Bumblebee's leg.
"No can do. I got orders from the Ultra Magnus to stick with ya," said Jazz.
"Yeah, but he didn't say where," Bumblebee smiled.
"Well, I have been itching to give my new wheels a spin," Jazz admitted and then transformed into his vehicle mode, which was a sports car. "Besides, any species that can come up a sweet ride like this can't be all bad."
Optimus, meanwhile, was now leading Sentinel and Ultra Magnus through Dinobot Island.
"Our ship is right up ahead, but try to keep quiet," said Optimus pointing to the caldera.
"Ooh, afraid there might be some big bad Decepticons lurking in the bushes?" Sentinel mocked.
"Not Decepticons. Dinobots." Then the Dinobots jumped out of the trees and blocked their path. "They'll leave you alone as long as you don't provoke them."
"I don't need some Elite Guard washout telling me how to handle a bunch of primitive technology," said Sentinel pushing Optimus out of the way.
"That technology isn't as primitive as its looks," Optimus warned.
"I don't recall asking you," said Sentinel as he stepped towards the Dinobots. "Go on! Shoo!"
The Dinobots were clearly insulted and then immediately transformed into their robot modes
"DINOBOTS! DESTROY!" Grimlock roared.
Then he pulled out his sword and ignited it. Sentinel put up his shield, but Grimlock slashed and knocked him down. The rest of the Dinobots then pulled out their weapons and ignited them. They began to approach Sentinel, but Ultra Magnus lifted up his hammer and slammed it into the ground. Lightning bolts fell from the sky and struck the surrounding area. The Dinobots transformed into their dinosaur mode, backed away into the forest, and disappeared.
Optimus then helped set onto his feet
"What kind of screw loose planet is this?" said Sentinel shoving Optimus away.
Jazz and the rest of Optimus' crew had arrived at the plant.
"Man, that was some funky blinking colour light show! What do you call those things again?" Jazz asked.
"Traffic lights?" Bulkhead responded.
"Traffic lights? Solid."
They stopped and transformed to robot mode apart from Bumblebee, who was carrying Sari. Then when Sari stepped out, he then transformed into robot mode, and her key began to glow hot and shot a beam of light towards the plant.
"That can't be good," Sari squeaked.
They could hear noises coming from the plant, which sounded a lot like lasers.
"Down!" Prowl and Jazz shouted.
The Autobots braced themselves when the wall blew apart. An army of police drones rolled out of the factory and onto the docks and began to shoot at anything that moved.
"I've changed my mind! I don't want to run my dad's company anymore!" Sari yelled.
Bulkhead then swung at the drones with his wrecking ball arm, but they just kept coming. "It's no good! These things are rolling off the assembly line faster than I can smash them!"
Everyone immediately took cover behind some crates.
"Is it always like this on this crazy planet?" Jazz shouted.
"Pretty much," Prowl replied.
"Prime! We've got trouble at the Sumdac Systems robot plant! And we're going to need backup!" Ratchet alerted over the comlink.
"Copy that, Ratchet! I'm on my way!" Optimus responded.
Optimus then immediately transformed into his vehicle mode and drove off. A few seconds later, both Ultra Magnus and Sentinel transformed themselves and followed him.
Moonracer had been reviewing the new channel when she saw the battle going on at the plant.
"They look like they could use some help," she said, noticing the Autobots were getting overrun, then looked back at Blackarachnia. "But I can't leave you? Elita, how he wished that he would wake up."
Then suddenly, there was a bright blue light, and Moonracer's eyes widened as floating directly above Blackarachnia was a blue crystal. She watched it for about 30 seconds. Suddenly, it shot right into Blackarachnia. Her body began to glow blue, and seconds later, her eyes opened.
Back at the plant, Ratchet used his magnets to crush two drones in a magnetic field. Then he was gunned down by a drone which was then smashed by Bulkhead. Bumblebee sped through the drones and shot them with his stingers.
"Bulkhead, behind you!" Prowl yelled as several drones began to surround Bulkhead.
Prowl then quickly jumped in and sliced the drones apart shuriken.
"Oh, the classic Metallikato Five Servos of Doom attack. But have you seen this one?" said Jazz and pulled out two energy nunchaku from the slots in his legs. He spun them and slashed through drones in a fantastic acrobatic display.
"Impressive," Prowl smirked.
"Guess you never got that far in your cyber ninja training."
Jazz then repeated the move and took out several more drones. Three drones, two on either side of him and one directly behind, then approached him. He quickly jumped out of the way allowing the two drones to shoot each other, but the third one was able to shoot him in the back. Prowl hit the ground hard and was pretty soon surrounded by drones, prepared to fire at him. Prowl braced himself, but then cutting through them was an ion axe.
"Mind if I cut in?" said Optimus as his axe returned to him like a boomerang. He then promptly helped Prowl to his feet, but more drones started to advance towards them.
"Optimus Prime! Behind you!" Ultra Magnus warned, and he drove over the drones.
"Thanks, Commander," said Optimus.
Then both Ultra Magnus and Sentinel transformed to robot mode.
"We should return to the ship, sir!" Sentinel suggested as Sari ran to him and away from the drones that were chasing her. Sentinel surrounded himself and Magnus in an energy field. "Every moment we're out here, we risk organic contamination'!"
Sari banged on his shield and then turned towards the advancing drones as they were about to fire on her. Then suddenly, Moonracer appeared from out of skating on the ground on a pair of energy skates and used them to cut through the drones.
"You are right, kid?" she asked, looking at Sari.
"Moonracer, what are you doing here?" Sentinel asked.
"We came to save your hide," said Moonracer bluntly.
"We?" Sentinel frowned.
They then heard the sound of a car engine is certainly smashing through several drones was a yellow and black convertible, which had no driver.
"Who's that?" Bumblebee asked.
Optimus looked at the car, and his eyes widened. "It can't be."
The convertible then immediately transformed, and soon standing before them was Blackarachnia, only it seemed as if she had a makeover. Her armour was now yellow and black; between the gaps, they could see that it was turquoise. Her two stingers were now pointing downwards instead of sticking over her shoulders. Her arms had been fully repaired, but now it seems as if she had a pair of stingers attached that also served as blades. However, the most noticeable difference was her head; at first, it looked as if she only had one pair of eyes, but when her forehead retracted, they saw two pairs of extra eyes. Running down the back of her head resembled black hair.
"Is that Blackarachnia?" Sari stared.
"New and improved, and she doesn't go by Blackarachnia anymore," she smiled. "You can go back and call me Elita-1."
"B-but how?" Optimus stared.
"It's a long story, but right now, we have other problems," said Elita.
"She's right! No matter how many we destroy, they just keep coming!" Ratchet exclaimed.
"Then we need to shut down that assembly line!" Optimus shouted.
"I'll do it with my key!" said Sari, running up to Optimus, who shielded her from a blast, and Ratchet blasted the drones with an electromagnetic field. "As long as this company's name is Sumdac, it's my responsibility.
"Okay, Elita, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Bumblebee! You keep the drones busy out here! Prowl and I will sneak Sari onto the loading dock!" Optimus ordered.
They then quickly transformed into vehicle mode, and Sari hopped inside Optimus' cab. Then they headed straight towards the factory.
"I'm coming with," said Moonracer transforming into vehicle mode.
"Mind if I join ya?" Jazz asked as he transformed and followed them into the facility.
The four of them ran through the hallways and eventually came to the assembly line. Then they were surrounded by drones.
"Go! We'll hold 'em off!" Jazz said, and he used his energy nunchucks to deflect the blaster bolts. Prowl used his shuriken to slice down several drones, and Moonracer skated around, cutting through them with her skates.
"Use your key! Hurry!" Optimus ordered. Sari nodded and ran to the control panel. She pushed her key into the panel, and the assembly line powered down to a stop.
"And that is why the company name is Sumdac!" Sari cheered.
Outside, the Autobots were holding off the droids as best they could. Bumblebee was blasting them with his stingers. Ratchet crushed the drones with his magnets. Bulkhead smashing them with his wrecking ball. While Elita was cutting through them with her newly required blades.
"Autobots! Disengage and retreat!" Ultra Magnus ordered as he raised his hammer. Storm clouds then began to form above them, and lightning struck the surrounding area, destroying every drone.
"Woah, now I get why they call you Ultra Magnus," said Bumblebee staring at the charred remains of the droids.
Inside the factory, Sari tried to pull her key out of the consul, but it was stuck.
"Ungh! Hey! My key's stuck! I can't get it out!" she said.
"That panel's going to overload!" Optimus warned.
"I think you've done enough, Optimus!" said Sentinel shoving Optimus back. "I'll make sure you're tried for high treason destroying the AllSpark! Now come with me." Sentinel grabbed Optimus's wrist.
"No!
"That wasn't a request! That was a direct order Optimus!"
"It's Optimus Prime!" Optimus glared, finally having enough of Sentinel's attitude. "I may be an 'Elite Guard washout and a glitch detail flunky, but the last time I checked, you and I still have equal rank! So Sentinel Prime, take your order and your condescending attitude and stick it in your hard drive! You're on my turf now!" Optimus shoved Sentinel away and pulled out his axe. He slashed the control panel to pieces causing Sari to fall backwards and land on her butt.
"A little warning next time?" said Sari as she rubbed her behind.
Then they saw falling next to her was a glowing blue shard.
"What is that?" Sentinel asked, staring at the AllSpark fragment.
Optimus picked it up and looked at it closely. "Your proof."
A few moments later, they were all outside, and Ultra Magnus was studying the fragment.
"Definitely a fragment of the AllSpark," said Ultra Magnus looking at the AllSpark shard in his hand.
"It looks almost exactly like the one I saw into Elita," said Moonracer. "There was this bright blue light, and moments later, she came out like this…"
"I did run a medical scan of myself before we left the plant," said Elita. "While I am still techno-organic, the damage to my processor seems to have been fixed, making me far more stable."
"Do you have a theory?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"Only one, you see from what I've discovered here on earth, organics can evolve over millions of stellar cycles to adapt to their environment. I believe that somehow the AllSpark accelerated the evolution of my organic half."
Ultra Magnus nodded and then turned his attention back to Optimus. "Regardless of what happened to Elita-1, it does appear your story of dispersing the AllSpark might not be so farfetched after all."
"But sir! You can't possibly believe him! He's a lying insubordinate crankshaft!" Sentinel cried.
"He may be a little rough around the edges," Ultra Magnus admitted. "But in the heat of battle Optimus Prime exhibited the qualities of a true leader: strategic thinking, determination, and above all, loyalty. Something you could stand to learn about Sentinel Prime."
Ultra Magnus narrowed his eyes at Sentinel before walking away. Sentinel displayed a very taken aback expression and then reluctantly followed him.
Sari looked at the remains of the drones littering the docks. "How am I supposed to explain this to Mr Powell?"
Later that afternoon, Sari and Bumblebee return to Sumdac Tower. Sari typed her ID number to enter her office, but she was denied.
"Hey! Why's my office locked?" said Sari as she banged on the door.
Powell's face then appeared on the panel's screen. "Ms Sumdac, I regret to inform you that your services will no longer be required. The board has unanimously elected me to take over as CEO of Sumdac Systems."
"You can't do that! It's still my family's company!" Sari snapped.
"Is it? I took the liberty of doing some research into your claim. It might interest you to know that there is no will, no birth certificate, no adoption papers, social security number or any kind of record whatsoever for a Sari Sumdac."
"Are you saying I can't prove I'm Isaac Sumdac's daughter?" Sari stared
"I'm saying you can't even prove you exist. Enjoy that bit of info," Powell sneered, and the screen went black.
A cold shiver ran down Sari's spine as it felt as if the entire world turned upside down.