People have been asking where Silverbolt and Quickstrike are. I never forgot about them. I've just been saving them for a delayed appearance.

"I know this may sound strange, but I have to ask," Airazor said. "If the Predacons are the good guys in this dimension, why is your ship still called the Darksyde? It sounds a little bit… dark, don't you think?"

Megatron stood on the other side of the Darksyde's holographic display table across from her. For the last few mega-cycles he and Airazor had been pouring over topographical scans the Predacons had managed to take of the Axalon and its surrounding area. The scans were rudimentary - not containing much in the way of geographical details or the exact locations of Sentinel's perimeter guns. Airazor had been working with the Predacon commander to fill in the gaps. Around the bridge, the rest of the crew worked at different computer terminals. Airazor didn't know what Tigatron was working on with Tarantulas, but the two seemed to be getting along well at one of them.

"Yes, I suppose Darksyde does have a sinister ring to it," Megatron agreed. An amused chuckle rumbled his massive chest. "The ship's name, though, was suppose to be more of a joke than anything else. It's sister ship was named the Lightscape. I suppose the manufacturers wanted to establish some kind of dichotomy between the two. I, unfortunately, was assigned the "evil" one of the twins when I took command of this exploration."

Airazor was once again struck by an intense sense of surrealism. In her dimension she never would have imagined Megatron having an ironic sense of humor. It felt very strange to admit - almost profane considering the death and destruction the Megatron of her dimension had caused - but she enjoyed this Predacon leader's company and felt an instinctive trust towards him. She could easily see herself following him into battle the same way she had followed the Optimus Primal of her dimension.

"So how were you planning to come in towards the Axalon?" she asked, looking back down at the three dimensional hologram.

Megatron pointed to a spot on the western side of the map. "From here. The original plan was for Waspinator to fly in over the ship and knock out the Axalon's defensive array here, here, and here. Those are the only spots we have found where Sentinel is weak to outside attacks. But they are extremely difficult targets. Waspinator was our only hope of succeeding. He was the faster flier we had. Not even Terrorsaur could match his skills in the air when he was still alive. After Sentinel was crippled, the plan was then for the rest of us to attack and use an explosive on the ship's lower hull to permanently disable the Axalon from ever achieving space-readiness again."

Airazor shook her head. "It wouldn't have worked. Not too long ago - at least in my dimension - Optimus had extra gun turrets installed here and here." She pointed to two points on the map close to where the Predacons had been planning to launch their attack. "If there are any Sentinel posts there like the ones in my dimension, you'd be caught in a crossfire before you ever got within a hundred yards of the ship. Your aerial scans are incomplete so we have to assume that the Optimus of this dimension made the same changes as the one from mine."

She studied the map for a pause of silence. "If you want to attack the Axalon your best bet would be to send in two fliers simultaneously from the north and south. It would force Sentinel to lock onto two moving targets instead of just one and raise your chances of hitting those weak spots. From what I once overheard Rattrap say, it's one of Sentinel's major weaknesses - at least on the dorsal side of the ship. It has a slow reaction time locking onto multiple targets at once. As for the ground forces, you should station your men here and here." She pointed at two locations on the map to the east and southeast. "Even if Sentinel were still partially operational after the aerial strike, you'd be in less risk of being hit by any of the ship's other outer defenses because of the gun turrets' placement in these locations. You could take cover in the surrounding hillsides and wouldn't be as exposed as you would be from your original starting point."

Megatron digested this for a long moment of silence. He studied the map with a thoughtful expression. He stood with one arm wrapped across the front of his chest with his other elbow propped up on his forearm and the side of his forefinger pressed to his bottom lip. "You're right," he finally said. "We would have been gunned down before we were ever able to even launch our attack." He looked up from the map and gave Airazor a lop-sided grin. "For as strange as the circumstances surrounding your arrival here are, and the oddness of collaborating with you considering what your alternate selves were like in this dimension, I must admit I am extremely grateful for you and Tigatron coming when you did. With your help we might yet be able to stop Primal from returning to Cybertron and starting a second Great War."

Airazor returned Megatron's smile. At least she wasn't the only one still getting used to their situation. If only the bots back home could be here and see Megatron and the rest of their former enemies now. They'd never believe it.

A series of frantic beeps suddenly sounded from the bridge's main computer console. Airazor, Megatron and the rest of the crew all turned towards it. Inferno was the nearest. Springing out of his seat he rushed to the computer.

"Megatron, our scanners are picking up two incoming emergency signals. They appear to be stasis pods!"

"Stasis pods?" Megatron said.

"Yes, sir," Inferno nodded. "And two of them according to the scans. Their landing trajectory puts them not far from our northern border."

Megatron's expression became tight with urgency. "Blackarachnia, Inferno. You two are to remain here and guard the base. Tarantulas, you're with me. I need your software hacking skills to deactivate Primal's battle programming. I want the protoforms in those pods to come online as free-thinking bots. I won't let Primal claim anymore innocent lives for his war effort, no."

As the Predacons hurried to their new tasks, Airazor glanced across the bridge and caught Tigatron's optics. The same silent thought was shared between them.

Silverbolt and Quickstrike.

It had to be them. So far Airazor had seen no hint of the two fuzors in this dimension. But if this dimension followed the timeline of theirs in any way, these stasis pods had to contain Silverbolt and Quickstrike. They were the last stasis pods knocked out of orbit in their dimension, and the only twin fall to occur. It had to be them…

"I think I know who might be in those pods," Airazor said as Megatron walked around the holo-table towards the nearest hover platform. "You have to let Tigatron and me come with you. We can help."

Megatron shook his head. "Tarantulas and I can move quicker alone. Nor do we want to alert the Maximals to our movement in case they didn't detect those stasis pods on their own scanners yet. We have to hurry and remove Primal's battle programming from the protoforms' operating software before they come online."

"But we know one of those bots! We fought beside Silverbolt countless times as our comrade. For as strange as it is for me to say, I don't want to see him become a Maximal in this dimension. I can't stand to think of him as some kind of murdering psychopath! If there's anything I can do, I want to help bring him online like the Silverbolt I know in our dimension."

Megatron studied Airazor for a long moment. "Very well," he reluctantly nodded. "You and Tigatron can help keep watch while Tarantulas deactivates the protoforms' battle programming."

Airazor gratefully dipped her head to him. "Thank you."

They moved quickly. Within forty-five minutes the four of them reached the area the Darksyde's scanners had detected the stasis pods' emergency beacons. A wasteland of scorched earth spread out around them in all directions - a lasting reminder of the alien quantum surge that had almost destroyed Earth several months before. The only things to break up the otherwise empty landscape was the twisted remains of heat-blackened trees. Gliding on a warm thermal draft in beast-mode, Airazor scanned the ground below. Megatron flew beside her, his beast-mode's jet engines droning loudly. Below them, Tigatron and Tarantulas sped across the charred ground. Tigatron's snow white figure stood out brightly against the charred landscape.

"Where do you think the stasis pods are?" she called to Megatron over the rush of wind. "We have to be getting close to them."

"Because of the damage the Darksyde sustained when we crash landed, our scanners are now only accurate to within a mile radius of a target."

Airazor returned her gaze to the scorched land. "Even for an area that big, you'd think a stasis pod would stand out in a place like this."

"Not necessarily," Megatron said. "If the pods were scorched from entry through the planet's atmosphere, it's possible they could blend into the surrounding- There!" Megatron's gaze was locked on something about half a mile away to their right. "I see them! Tarantulas, follow me," he called into his comm-link.

"I see them too," Tarantulas replied over the link.

The four sped towards the pods. As they neared Airazor saw that the stasis pods had indeed been scorched from their passage through the atmosphere and blended almost seamlessly into the ash-colored earth. Airazor and Megatron dropped down out of the sky beside the nearest of the two pods and transformed. The other lay several dozen feet away. Tigatron and Tarantulas skid to a stop behind them and smoothly converted to their own robot forms.

"Tarantulas, you know what you have to do." Megatron motioned to the nearest of the two pods.

"Already on it," the scientist said. Jogging up to it, he dropped to his knees beside the pod. He removed a packet of tools from a sub-space compartment on his forearm. With a small screwdriver he pried open a panel on the pod's side. The panel's charred sides stuck for a moment before coming loose with a hollow clang. A bundle of different colored wires and circuit boards spilled out of the opening like the intestines of a gutted animal. Tarantulas immediately got to work: cutting wires and attaching them to a small handheld computer drive.

Airazor scanned the stasis pod for any distinguishing features, but couldn't see anything to indicate whether it was Silverbolt or Quickstrike's stasis pod Tarantulas was hacking into.

"Are the protoforms still alive?" Tigatron asked as Tarantulas' device lit and its LCD screen filled with lines of code.

Tarantulas nodded. "Yes. At least this stasis pod's protoform is. My readings also indicate the pod's already scanned for a suitable organic life form and synthesized a beast-mode for the protoform."

"Hurry then," Megatron said. "That means the protoforms could come online at any moment. And I would rather that happen with Primal's battle programming not activated." He turned to Airazor and Tigatron. "Help me secure a perimeter. I have no doubt Primal has by now detected the stasis pods' emergency beacons. Who knows how long we have before he gets here."

The two Maximals nodded and drew their weapons. The three of them spread out around Tarantulas and the stasis pods in a loose circle. Minutes crawled by as Tarantulas tapped line after line of code into the pod's operating system.

"Almost there," he muttered between his mandibles. His optics were narrowed with concentration.

"Hurry," Megatron urged. His entire superstructure was rigid with tension as he scanned the horizon for approaching enemies.

"Done!" Tarantulas finally cried. He unhooked his equipment and punched the release button on the pod's keypad. The front hatch sprang open with a pneumatic hiss of pressurized air. There was a muffled thump of movement inside. Airazor, Tigatron and Megatron all moved closer.

Please be Silverbolt. Please be Silverbolt, Airazor silently begged.

Another thud sounded inside the pod, and an emerald green pincher squeezed through the hatch opening. More of a segmented limb followed before the hatch was pushed completely open by its occupant. As the two Maximals and two Predacons watched, a transmetal green scorpion awkwardly crawled out of the pod as though he were having trouble manipulating his numerous legs. In the place of a stinger at the end of his tail was instead the head of a green garden snake. Its pale yellow eyes shined brightly in the dull light.

"Quickstrike," Airazor murmured in disappointment.

"If you say so, ma'am," the fuzor drawled. His voice was garbled as if he were still trying to fully wake up from the stasis pod's hibernation serum. He finally seemed to get a hold of himself and looked around. "Where'm I?"

Megatron stepped forward. "You just woke from an extended stasis-sleep on planet Earth. My name is Megatron, commander of Predacon space explorations. This is Tarantulas, Tigatron and Airazor. We saved you from falling victim to Optimus Primal - leader of a rogue group of Maximal mercenaries - control."

"How's come you're all taller than me?" Quickstrike said. "How's come I got all these legs and claws?"

"It is because of your beast-mode. Just call out your name and the order, 'transform!' and you will transform to your true shape," Tarantulas explained. "Your alternate form is to protect you from this planet's energon surges."

The fuzor seemed unsure, but obediently called out, "Quickstrike, transform!" In a flurry of shifting limbs and armored plates, the fuzor reformed into a stocky green mech.

"Well, I'll be," he drawled in awe as he looked himself up and down. The snake head on his arm flicked its tongue in the air.

"Come on," Airazor said. "We still have to get Silverbolt."

"Yes," Tarantulas agreed. He began to gather his tools. "One down, one to go."

Unfortunately, just as the small recovery team turned towards the last pod a grenade exploded against the ground directly between them and it. The five were knocked backwards off their pedes by the blast.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a familiar voice called out from above. "Looks like the annoying little do-gooders are trying to steal my property. When are you going to learn, Megatron, that these pods and the protoforms inside them are mine?"

Airazor looked up to see Optimus hovering several dozen feet above them in the air on his jet board. His armor gleamed a dark, malevolent purple.

"They are not yours to claim, Primal!" Megatron yelled as he pushed himself back to his feet. "I won't let you destroy anymore lives with your twisted greed and delusions."

"We'll see about that," Optimus growled. The end of the plasma cannon on his forearm glowed hot.

The rumble of engines sounded to the recovery team's right as two bots skid to a stop below Optimus. Rattrap and Cheetor transformed with twin calls of "terrorize!"

"Look wha' we got here, spots," Rattrap said as he eyed the group of Predacons. His optics zeroed in on Tigatron and Airazor. "If it ain't da two traitors dat got away." He flashed each of them a grin that dripped with sadistic glee. "I can't wait ta get you two into an interrogation cell. I've got a number of toys lined up 'specially fer you."

An involuntary chill ran down the length of Airazor's back.

"Who says anything about taking them back to base alive?" Cheetor growled. He leveled a blaster at them. "None of them are going to be walking away from this."

"Destroy them!" Optimus bellowed. "Then activate that last pod and wake my newest soldier!"

"No!" Airazor cried as the scorched plain became a battlefield. Laserfire, bullets and plasma charges flew through the air in both directions.

"Tarantulas!" Megatron yelled over the cacophony of battle. "Get to that pod and deactivate its battle programming! You're the only one that can!"

"I'm trying!" Tarantulas called back as he ducked to the side just in time to dodge an explosive from Rattrap. The ground shook with the concussive force of it half a second after a brilliant flash of heat lit the air. The scientist was sent flying into the ground by the blast.

Airazor broke off firing on Optimus and hurried to Tarantulas's side. "You okay?"

Tarantulas painfully pushed himself up. Two of his spider legs on his right side were bent backwards and scorched black. Mech-fluid dripped from several gashes on his back from flying pieces of shrapnel from Rattrap's bomb. "No," he rasped. "But I have to get to that pod."

"I'll cover you," Airazor yelled as another bomb exploded half a dozen feet from them. She helped pull Tarantulas onto his pedes. "You can't let Silverbolt come online as a Maximal!"

"I'm afraid that's going to happen whether you want it to or not," a voice rumbled behind her. Airazor whirled around to find herself suddenly staring into her former commander's optics. Optimus raised his plasma cannon. "If I wasn't in such a hurry to claim that stasis pod I'd take more time to make your last few moments of life full of pain. Traitor," he hissed. "You had your chance to join me and you threw it away to fight for Megatron and his pathetic little band of heroes. That will prove to be the biggest mistake of your function. No one turns their back on Optimus Primal and lives to tell about it." He aimed his weapon at the flier's chest. The end of the plasma cannon glowed white with charged energy.

But before he could unleash his vengeance on Airazor, an energy blast caught Optimus in the side, knocking his arm away from Airazor. Another energy blast exploded against the ground near the Maximal warlord's feet, forcing him back several more feet.

"Stay away from them, Primal," Megatron called as he stalked towards the tyrant. "Your fight is with me."

Behind him, Tigatron and Quickstrike were locked in a firefight with Rattrap and Cheetor.

"Megatron," Optimus snarled. The name was spat like a curse. He turned to fully face the Predacon commander. "I will teach you once and for all not to interfere with my plans."

Megatron spared Airazor and Tarantulas a quick glance. "Go! Get to the stasis pod."

Airazor nodded. "Come on!" she yelled as Megatron and Optimus met in a terrific clash of metal and laserfire. Tarantulas's entire back was coated in a thick layer mech-fluid now. One of his broken legs dangled over his shoulder from nothing more than a few shorting wires. Airazor could only imagine how painful his injuries must be.

Yet somehow the scientist managed to swallow his pain and stand straight. Limping towards the pod, he half-lowered himself, half-dropped to his knees beside it. Airazor took point behind him. Mech-fluid from his mutilated back ran down the length of his arm and coated his hand in a slippery glove of purple fluid as he fumbled with his tools. The head of his screwdriver slipped several times against the side of the access panel before he finally managed to wedge it underneath the edge and pry it loose. He immediately began sorting wires and attaching them to his hacking device. Airazor couldn't help but notice the slight trembling of his hands as he worked. His injuries must have been even more painful than they appeared.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, Airazor silently chanted as lines of code filled the device's LCD screen. Tarantulas furiously tapped at its miniature keyboard.

"Almost got it," he muttered. "Just one more code command…"

A terrific explosion sounded from the other side of the battlefield. Airazor thought she heard Tigatron cry out over the blast.

"Oh no ya don't!" Rattrap's voice rang out. Airazor turned towards it just as a laser blast shot past her over Tarantulas's shoulder into the side of the stasis pod. Tarantulas's device was ripped from the stasis pod's internal circuitry by the blow.

"No!" he cried.

Before Airazor could ask if he had finished deactivating Optimus's programming or not, the hatch of the stasis pod eased open with a drawn out hiss. Rattrap's blast had disengaged the door latch. Tarantulas and Airazor both backed away from the pod as a sable-colored wing slowly unfolded from inside it into the air. As Airazor stared in a horrified daze, a monstrous black wolf slunk out over the side of the pod, its eyes two points of molten hellfire. Raven wings sprouted from its back. Razor-sharp talons made up the beast's front legs.

"Silverbolt… no," Airazor whispered. They hadn't been fast enough…

The fuzor turned its shaggy head towards her. "Is that my name?" he growled. Airazor saw the glint of yellow fangs between his lips as he spoke. "Yes… That must be my name. It is a name that rings of speed. Like the sound of death swooping down on its victim deep in the night." The fuzor chuckled darkly. "I like it. I will keep this name."

More gunfire and explosions sounded behind them. Silverbolt turned towards it. The Predacons and Maximals were locked in battle, their fighting almost evenly matched. Silverbolt's lips curled back from his teeth in a wolfish grin. "Battle… The sound of it calls to me like music…"

So entranced by this horrifying version of the once proud and noble mech she knew, Airazor was startled back to the present only by the sound of Optimus's voice calling out to them from the other side of the battlefield. Half of Megatron's upper right arm was gone - blown away at some point by the Maximal warlord. Yet still he fought even as Optimus turned his attention to the newest recruit of their war.

"Then join me, Silverbolt. And I will unleash you on as many battlefields as you desire. With me I will give you your fill of battle and destruction. With me you will make the ground run purple with the mech-fluid of all those that dare to stand in my way of galactic conquest."

"No!" Megatron angrily cried, but was cut off by another plasma blast from Optimus, forcing him to duck away.

"Destruction… yes," Silverbolt grinned. "I do like the sound of that. And the promise of mech-fluid. It is such a delicious treat, after all."

Optimus grinned. "Then you will have it. Begin your feast with those two Predacons there." He pointed at Airazor and Tarantulas. "Make their deaths painful and slow."

The fuzor turned back towards Airazor and Tarantulas. Blood lust gleamed in his eyes as he looked the two up and down. His tongue hungrily lolled out of his mouth and licked at the sides of his muzzle. "I will enjoy tearing you two apart." His gaze fell on Tarantulas and stayed there. "I only wish you were not already injured. It is so much more fun when the prey actually gives you a chase."

"Megatron, we have to retreat!" Airazor cried into her comm-link. "We've lost Silverbolt. This battle's over."

There was an answering click on the other side of the link.

"Predacons! Retreat!" Megatron's voice boomed over the drone of battle.

The fuzor began his advance on them as though he hadn't heard. "Silverbolt, terrorize!" In the blink of an eye the monstrous raven-wolf transformed into a black-plated mech. With his feathered black wings he looked just like the harbinger of Death itself.

Airazor turned to Tarantulas. His facial plates had begun to turn dull from fluid-loss. "Can you transform like this?"

"No other choice but to try," he said. With an obvious amount of pain, the scientist folded down against himself into his wheeled alt-mode.

"Go!" Airazor called to him as she rocketed into the air. "I'll meet you back at the Darksyde."

Tarantulas sped away in a cloud of kicked up ash. Around the battlefield, Tigatron and the other Predacons all transformed and scattered.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave the party so soon," Silverbolt growled after Airazor from the ground. He spread his wings out behind him, ready to follow her into the air. "We haven't even begun to play yet."

Airazor turned back towards him. Her blaster hummed in her hand. "I'm sorry, Silverbolt," she sorrowfully whispered. "I wasn't fast enough to save you." Then taking aim at the fuzor's chest, Airazor fired.

Silverbolt howled as the laser blast exploded against his front plating. He staggered backwards several feet, his chest smoking.

Wasting no time, Airazor turned and fled from the twisted nightmare of her former comrade as quickly as she could. Whether it was because Optimus had decided not to chase them or the other Predacons had suffered more damage in the fight than she was aware of, the Maximals did not pursue.

The flight back to the Darksyde felt like it took twice as long as before. The mission had not been a complete failure. They had managed to save Quickstrike from falling into Maximal hands and had freed him from Optimus's battle programming. But while the Predacons could claim partial victory that day, Airazor felt as if they had just suffered the most devastating loss possible. Despite her best efforts to save her friend and comrade, Silverbolt had joined the ranks of Optimus's Maximals and become what she had so desperately tried to prevent: a bloodthirsty killer. Airazor didn't know what was worse: losing Silverbolt to these twisted versions of the Maximals or the knowledge that the next time she met her former comrade in battle her shots would have to be aimed to kill.

To Be Continued…

Good? Bad? What'd you think? Is the story still standing up to expectations?