The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the mountainside as Hot Rod and Arcee returned from patrol. The latter now formed a motorcycle, bulky but still capable of keeping up with her partner. A holographic human rode in the vehicle's seat.

"We're coming up on the coordinates," Arcee announced, pulling slightly ahead. "According to T-AI's readouts, these grids host a massive Energon stockpile."

"This'll have us fueled for months," remarked Hot Rod. "But still, we should save some. Optimus may want a reserve in case of emergencies."

The conversation came to a close when they came across the sight, finding a huge crater in the ground and a fighter jet flying off in the distance. The two transformed, frustration written across their faces as they saw Starscream's silhouette disappear into the distance.

"Scrap," grunted Arcee. "Bad news, T-AI. The 'cons got here first."

"Unfortunate. I'll open a ground bridge, Optimus wants everyone back at base before seventeen hundred."

"What, is he giving us a curfew?" scoffed Hot Rod. "We aren't exactly protoforms."

"Then act like it, and don't gripe about going in early," retorted Arcee. She gave one last glance at the departing Starscream, before slamming her fist into the side of a cliff face. "Stupid airhead taking all that Energon. I'm gonna cave his face in the next time I see him…"

Chapter 12: Powergrab

"I found this Energon in the mountains," gloated Starscream, as the crystals were sent for processing. "It was, to use local terms, a jackpot. No need to thank me for finding them all."

"Aren't you forgetting someone else who helped bring them here?" seethed Mosstone. "Someone who helped you deliver those crystals?"

"No. Pathsmasher, get your grunts fueled up. Lord Megatron's CR treatment ends in twelve cycles, and I need you ready to carry out my plan. In the meantime, I want Chopblock to man the ground bridge."

As the groups dispersed, Solon watched from the sidelines. He glanced over to Mosstone, who was noticeably frustrated with the situation, and Overcast, who still seemed upset with the orders he was carrying out. He then looked over to Bonecrusher, who was fiddling with one of his weapons, and walked over.

"What do you think about this goal?" he asked, gesturing to the two. "Catching everyone and having them… mind-controlled into obeying Megatron's every whim?"

"The Cybertronian race has been divided amongst itself for too long," answered Bonecrusher, not looking up. "Only through unity can we grow stronger, and only through strength can we have unity."

"Sure, but forced unity?"

That gave Bonecrusher pause, glancing over at the two neutrals. He pursed his lips in thought, before taking his weapon and walking off.

In one of the deepest parts of the Decepticon base, Starscream and Chopblock approached a ground bridge portal, the latter preparing to work the controls. "What's at these coordinates, sir?" he asked. "Looks like nothing but ice."

"It's more than meets the eye, Chopblock," retorted Starscream, watching the portal swirl. "I'll send further instructions along shortly."

Transforming to jet mode, the seeker soared into the portal, which closed moments later.

T-AI projected multiple images from her screen, Mountrek explaining the current situation to Kup.

"So, we've been picking up pods from both your ship and the Exodus, because they've all been scattered across the planet," she began, as six icons came up. "Right now, we know the fates of six pods; the Decepticons have three, while the Autobots found mine, Quatrei's, and…" She stopped, turning to the neutral hovering by the screen. "What's your name?"

"Transmutate," the neutral responded, voice still sounding garbled.

"Right, theirs too."

"So there's us three, you, Optimus, and Roddy," said Kup. "How many more Autobots do we have?"

"Just two, I'm afraid. There's Evac, the medic, and Quatrei and her scanner partner. Grimlock and his team are here, but they aren't with us." Mountrek stopped as she heard Kup audibly growl. "Either way, the Decepticons have us outnumbered."

"Well, I've had worse odds before," the older mech shrugged, opening a compartment on his leg and taking out a blue stick. "Have an Energon goodie and I'll tell you about how I liberated the Crystalline Warriors on Rellos IV."

Surprised, Mountrek nevertheless took the offered treat while Kup started his spiel.

Solon checked his phone as he stood in the mess hall, listening to the Crushers chatter amongst themselves.

"A lot could go wrong," said Treadhead, staring into his empty Energon cube. "We've had our share of tussles, but they called Megatron the King of the Stadium for a reason."

"Who cares about some dumb title he has?" scoffed Smashface. "He's never faced a combiner before."

"Yes he has," answered Rageduct, inspecting her weapon. "He brought down that Predacon combiner, Pestilus, before the war."

"That was made of three bots," objected Windsong. "We're five. We'd have him outnumbered and overpowered."

This ultimately left Pathsmasher with the deciding vote. "Megatron would have us deactivated if we don't succeed, but Starscream will do worse if we don't try. We're carrying out his plan."

The teen frowned, already knowing something drastic would happen. Checking his phone one more time, he decided to slip out while nobody was watching. By the CR chamber, he found Overcast and Vertebreak watching the timer tick down.

"Hey, new girl," he said, pointing to Vertebreak. "I don't know a lot about you. What was your life like on Cybertron?"

"Oh, I'm not from Cybertron," she answered. "I come from Eukaris, one of the colonies. I had come to Cybertron with friends, but when the space bridges got shut down, I was left here. I figured I could head home on one of the evacuation ships…" Vertebreak rubbed her chin thoughtfully, before her head twitched and she gained a wide grin. "…but now I am a faithful servant of the Decepticons!"

Solon took a step back, as did Overcast. The other reprogrammed neutrals never acted like that. Solon decided that whatever went down once Megatron left, he didn't want a part of it.

Starscream trudged through the Antarctic, a scanner aimed at the icy ground before him. He never realized it at first, but he had been to this planet before, millions of years ago. As the seeker continued on, twitching his every plate so they didn't freeze shut, he eventually found what he was looking for.

"Yes…" he shivered, a sudden warmth in his spark staving off the cold. "He's still here, exactly where he crashed! Now to get him out…"

He then heard a ping on his comm, answering it. "Commander Starscream, it's Pa-sher. Megatron's waki-p now."

"Pathsmasher, you're breaking up, I can barely hear you."

"There seems to be s-ference. Will up-ce we've succee-" And then the comm went dead.

"It sounds like my plan will be taking action soon. I'll call Chopblock on the secure frequency."

The CR chamber opened up, Megatron taking a step out. All his damage from the Lifesong's explosion had been healed, and he clenched his fists as his optics came online.

"Starscream…" he muttered.

"Not here, oh mighty Megatron. However, he gave us our instructions."

Once his focus returned, the Decepticon leader found himself staring down the Crushers, each aiming their weapons at him. Megatron grimaced, eyeing up each of them.

"Do you really believe the five of you can defeat me?"

"We'll give it a try, that's for sure," remarked Windsong.

Bonecrusher and Overcast noticed what was going on and went to help, before Megatron held a hand up. "This is between me and the Crushers," he stated, projecting his flail. "Of course, these five should know that I fought in the Pits of Kaon!"

"Oh, you aren't fighting the five of us!" said Rageduct, her face nearly split by a confident smile. "Just the one of us!"

At that prompt, the five combined into Tumultor. The ceiling was only just tall enough to accommodate him, but there wasn't much space to move. The combiner dropped to one knee, aiming a fist directly at Megatron's position as he did. Megatron dodged, but the ground shaking nearly threw him off.

"Where's the human gone?" asked Vertebreak, watching events unfold.

"Who cares?" remarked Beater. "What we should be concerned about is who's gonna win."

In spite of the limited space, Tumultor was able to put up a good fight against his opponent. One hit was even able to send Megatron into the wall, which opened a few wounds that had just healed.

"Very well, if that's how it shall be," he grunted, leaping into the air.

As he left the ground, the Decepticon leader transformed to his jet mode and flew straight up to Tumultor's face. The combiner reached a hand up, trying to grab him out of the air, but instead took several blasts to the face from Megatron's fusion cannon. Tumultor groaned and fell back, colliding with the ground and splitting into his components. Most of the team were sprawled unconscious, but Rageduct and Pathsmasher were on their feet in an instant.

"Check on the others," the latter requested. "Make sure they aren't too badly damaged, and I'll take Megatron."

"Worry about yourself, sir," responded Rageduct, turning to her teammates.

Megatron landed and transformed back to robot mode, staring down Pathsmasher. "Starscream should have faced me himself," he growled.

"Agreed. But, I'll gladly fill in for him."

The two large mechs began dueling, throwing punches and trying to do as much damage as possible. Megatron was still nursing a few wounds, but was easily able to give double what he took. Several jabs, an upper hook, and a low-power cannon blast later, and Pathsmasher was on the ground.

"A valiant effort," the tyrant huffed, wiping away an Energon leak from his abdomen. "Truly, had you entered the arena, you would have been highly regarded." He then held out a hand, helping Pathsmasher to his feet. "Normally I don't tolerate treason, but you're of more use to me alive. Our numbers exceed the Autobots, but they lack a combiner of their own."

"I… I thank you for sparing us, sir. I'll ensure you won't regret it."

"Excellent. Now, where is Starscream?"

Starscream had managed to bridge himself close to the base-but not inside of it, not wanting to be caught up in what was going on inside. Laying amidst a surprisingly large clearing was what he had found in the arctic-a Cybertronian as white as the snow they had been pulled from. Easily taller than the other Decepticons, ice was continuing to melt from their frame.

Starscream continued his observations, not noticing the heavy footfalls until a shadow appeared directly behind him. A very familiar shadow.

"Uh, Lord Megatron…" the Seeker stammered out. "I was about to-"

A sudden shove sent him crashing through several trees, smashing into a cliff side as his leader stomped over to his prone form. "I take it you weren't planning on my survival, were you?"

Starscream was too stunned to reply-not that Megatron gave him the chance to, before slamming him back into the rocks. As the gray and red mech tried rising to his feet, he was lifted off the ground by his neck.

"Consider your next words carefully, Starscream, lest they be your last."

"I-I have a gift!" he choked, clawing at the hand holding him up. "There, that white mech there!"

Megatron turned in the direction of said white mech, lowering Starscream to at least let his feet touch the ground. A quick scan confirmed that their spark was functioning, but only just.

"Explain, Starscream, now."

"His name is Jetfire, my liege. He-He was- I'd explain a lot easier without your hand around my-" the grip was released, Starscream reaching up to rub it. "Jetfire and I were colleagues at the Polyhex Academy of Science. We had gone out on an expedition to an uncharted alien world-uh, this one, several million stellar cycles ago. We encountered a snowstorm in one of the arctic poles and he got lost."

"And this… friend of yours, you intend to plant a shell program?"

"No!" Starscream shouted, before his tone became subdued. "No, lord Megatron, I intend to recruit him to our cause, just as I was."

Megatron narrowed his optics suspiciously, but relented. "Take him to the CR chamber. Once Chopblock has thoroughly analyzed him, we'll see if he can be… recruited."

Anna could tell right away that Optimus was outside her apartment; big red trucks were hardly inconspicuous. But her roommate Sophie was more surprised by the sight.

"What the hell is a semi truck doing on our street?" she asked loudly. "Anna, there's just a truck sitting there, it's-" She then noticed her roommate, at the front door, dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants. "Where are you going?"

"Out," the redhead replied, hand on the doorknob. "I know the… the guy in the truck. I'll go talk to him."

"Oh, you know him?" Now Sophie was suspicious. "Does your boyfriend know about this trucker?"

"Yep, he's a mutual friend of ours," Anna stated casually, then walked out of the room. In the street, she patted Optimus' side, climbing in through the passenger door as he drove off. "Roddy told me you guys have a curfew now. Is this an exception?"

"I received an encrypted message," the Autobot leader responded, turning away from Central City in the direction of the mountains. "It asked for either you or Matt to be present, although it provided no additional information."

"And you're here as protection, right?" She smiled, patting the dashboard. "That's good. If it were anyone else, there's no way I'd go out in the middle of nowhere, at night, all on my own."

As they stopped in the clearing, Anna poked her head out, peering around for any other signs of life. Hearing footsteps, she turned to find the Decepticon's human stepping towards them.

"Hi!" he called, waving before cramming his hands in his pockets. "I see you got my message."

"That was from you? Now I know it's a trap." She rolled up her sleeves, about to step forward when Solon raised his hands up.

"I'm not here for a fight, I just wanna talk!" he blurted. "Just us, human to human." Anna stepped back, crossing her arms and allowing him to continue. "Listen, I-uh, I know our factions aren't the best of buddies, but I'd like some human interaction, you know?"

"You wanted someone to chat with, and you picked us? You're in one of the most populated cities this side of East Tennessee, you can find literally anyone."

"But nobody else can understand what we're going through. We don't have to be the best of pals, I just want someone to talk with on occasion." He held out a hand, awkwardly smiling.

Anna thought it over, considering the possibilities, before walking forward and shaking his hand. "Fine. I'll talk to Matt, see if he's alright talking with you about human stuff. But why don't you just straight up come to the Autobots?"

Solon's smile faltered as he ended the handshake. "It's… not that easy. Uh, I-I'll see you around."

Anna watched him go, before climbing back into Optimus. "There's something about him," she said, rubbing her chin. "I almost feel sorry for the guy, he's too nice to be with the Decepticons."

"Even before his plan to reprogram the neutrals, not every Decepticon chose to join," the Autobot leader responded. "That is why we fight, so that neither Autobots or Decepticons need to exist anymore."

The redhead hummed, laying her head back as she went back to her apartment.

Not much to say about this one. Jetfire's inclusion is because I have his G1 figure. It's missing his arms and most of the other attachments, but I had it before I was even interested in Transformers. All that said, his proper inclusion will come about later.

Next time: When Slash is captured by humans, Grimlock must team up with the Autobots to get her back.