A/N: Well, this took longer than expected to get done. But anyways, here's the next instalment of our story, with a return to stories based on episodes. Although, I plan on using episode concepts from multiple shows too.

And in response to some reviews!

English patch: Don't worry, we get a small glimpse at everyone's favorite construction boys this chapter. And, I have big plans for them way down the road, so keep an eye out for that.

Crystine Decepticon: Yeah, I'm slowly getting better at proofreading. And at some point I'll be going back and cleaning up some of the earlier chapters.

Anglewings2002: Oh yeah, Arcee is definitely one bot you don't want to be on the bad side of. We will be seeing plenty of her soon enough.

Queen Flara: Glad you enjoy the story so far, and my writing style. I've always thought I write a little odd at times, so thanks!

Prowl sat alone in his office, as he replayed the security footage once again. Had it not been for the stimulants he spiked his energon with, he would have passed out hours ago. But Prowl was one of the best tactical minds the Autobots had, and over the many years had developed the perfect brew for long nights mulling over piles of data. He intently observed the multi-screen setup he had at his desk, taking in every nanosecond of footage from the Decepticons attack he could. He was cut short however, as a faint tapping was heard on the door to his office. He paused the footage, and got up to open it, and was met with Rodimus.

"Uhhh... bad time?" he asked.

"No. What do you want, Rodimus?" he asked coldly. He stood aside to let the young commander enter, and locked the door once again. After Prowl had seated himself again, the two began to talk.

"The reason I'm here is because, well, you know…"

"Yes, I do know. Your worried about word getting out of us having a Decepticon locked up in the basement." Prowl said, cutting him off.

"Well, what are we going to do about it? You havent been on board long enough to know it, but these 'bots may act moronic, but they arent stupid. If they put their processor to it, they'll find out eventually." Rodimus said

"That makes no sense."

"That's besides the point. I just want to know how we get a handle on the situation."

There was a moment of silence before either talked again, but Prowl gave an inquisitive look to Rodimus. "We don't say a word, or get a handle on anything. The crew already knows what we want them to know. Overlord was simply part of the Decepticons' attack, nothing more, nothing less."

"Yeah, and I'm not saying we are wrong in keeping it that way, but it just feels…"

"Dirty?" came the Police-bot's quick response.

"Yeah, exactly." Rodimus replied.

"Good. You have a conscience, and that seems to be a rarity these days." Prowl said, leaning back in his chair

"Well, of course I'm conscience about this, the monster that traumatised my brother nearly killed him the other day!" Rodimus cried.

Prowl simply glared at him, waiting for him to calm down. It's not that he didn't understand the young mech's frustration, he wouldn't be too happy either if something happened to Smokescreen or Bluestreak, it's just that he didn't have the time to deal with it right now.

"And is that everything you wanted to talk to me about?" Prowl asked.

"Just one more thing before I go. An update more than anything really," Rodimus said, "The scanners were repaired a while ago, so hopefully we can track down some energon soon."

"We'd better. The Decepticons managed to take a considerable amount of our stockpile with them during the attack, not to mention the power drain from all the ship's weapon systems has set us back some." Prowl said.

Now having spoken his piece, Rodimus stood up from his seat and walked towards the door. He looked back, and saw that Prowl had wasted no time in getting back to his work. And thusly, he strode out of his office, the door closing behind him.

Onboard the Nemesis, things had been relatively calm since the raid on the Autobot base. In fact, they had managed to take about half the energon that was used to power the retrofitted ground bridge, so their store rooms were fairly well off for the time being. And, miraculously, there had been minimal casualties sustained during the raid, the worst case being some of the Vehicons having missing limbs.

However, now that he knew what this band of Autobots were capable of, Megatron would be lying if he said he wasn't worried. The Decepticons were just barely getting anything of worth from the Autobots' abandoned operation, and they would have to locate new sources soon enough.

Suddenly, there was the sound of an explosion, though not a powerful one. Starscream shot up from where he was sitting at a terminal, going so far as to charge up his null-rays. Megatron turned to where he had heard it come from, the human's platform, where a small plume of smoke was rising up from.

"Uh, sorry about that." Raf said with a nervous chuckle, as he wiped some soot from his glasses.

"And what is it that you all are working on?" Megatron asked as he approached them. Now closer, he saw that Raf, with some help from Steve, had set up a miniature volcano, however the top of it seemed to be a little melted.

"Our school projects that are due tomorrow. They make up a big part of our grade." Jack said, from where he and Airachnid were working on some sort of internal combustion engine.

"Super important, but super boring too." Miko said, as she finished painting a red dot on Jupiter for her solar system model, which Breakdown was precariously holding up.

Starscream, now curious, had leaned over to observe the human's projects. "Well, these are certainly… intriguing, to say the least. However, wouldn't it be best to have other humans assist you, considering the subject matter?" the seeker asked.

"Well, aren't you a scientist or something, 'Screamer? Maybe you could help out!" said Miko.

"I was a scientist, yes. But I'm certain there those more well suited to assist you." Starscream said.

"Perhaps it would be for the best, Starscream." Megatron said. "A part of our shared cultural exchange, if you will. And considering Breakdown, Airachnid and Steve are not such experts in the sciences, you are the better choice for it."

Starscream, begrudgingly so, conceded to the notion. "Very well then. If I am so needed, then let's get to work." he said, practically shooing away the human's guardians. With the children explaining their projects to him, they got to it.

…

Megatron resigned himself to return to the main console at the front of the bridge, looking over reports from the various scouting parties that had been sent out. Unfortunately, with few troops to spare, very little had been found so far. Luckily, some energon deposits had been discovered in the more rural areas of the planet.

Just as Megatron finished sending a message to the Constructicons of the locations where mines were to be set up, a notification popped up on-screen from Soundwave. It was a simple message, saying, 'Decepticon operative located. Require energon cube for reactivation.'

After explaining the situation to those present on the bridge, Megatron quickly retrieved a cube of the rich blue energy source from the storeroom, and activated a groundbridge to Soundwave's location.

Onboard the Lost Light, Rodimus had finally managed to get some downtime in the midst of all the madness that had unfolded over the previous few days. And a good thing, too, because if he had been in any worse of a mood, he might have snapped when he received a ping from over his commlink.

Usually, Rodimus would be annoyed at being bothered with work during his free time. However, once he heard the news that an energon source had been located, and one on the move no less, he wasn't going to take any chances, and decided to go after it himself. Of course, he would never go alone, and so he managed to scrape up some available crew members to join him.

"And are you certain of this being the signal of a Decepticon?" Megatron asked. Soundwave and himself were stood amidst many rocky outcroppings in a desert, watching on as Rumble and Frenzy were currently excavating part of the cliffside, with Laserbeak overhead keeping a lookout.

"Affirmative." Came his TIC's reply, "Identity; unknown. Pod analysis; estimated over 600 thousand years of stasis."

"Well, im certainly glad you managed to find another one of us. I'm sure they will be a great help in our continued survival." Megatron said.

It took a while, Megatron having to step in on a few occasions to help with the larger boulders in the way, but in time the two depolyers managed to fully excavate the stasis pod, and pull it out from the rocky enclosure into the daylight. Now they could see that it was a very large pod indeed, big enough for a bot the size of Blackout even, although scans indicate that they were not nearly as massive. And on the front of the pod, its paint chipped and faded, was the Decepticon symbol.

Megatron took the energon cube he had brought with him out of his subspace, and removed it from it's container. He then slotted the shimmering blue cube into the chamber, and watched as it was drained of its contents, and the pod itself began to glow. Then, the seal began to open, the various struts and panels transforming away, revealing the bot before them.

The dark magenta and silver flyer stumbled forwards, and stretched his limbs after so many millennia in stasis. Shuttering his optics a few times, he took notice of the Decepticon commander stood before him. He crossed an arm across his chest, and gave a slight bow.

"Megatron, sir. It's been a long time." the mech said.

"Indeed, Skyquake. Unfortunately, it had to be under such circumstances as these." Megatron repiled.

"Yes, very unfortunate." a new voice said.

The gathered Decepticons turned, and were met with Rodimus, his clearly freshly polished paintwork gleaming in the desert sun, and a smug grin plastered on his faceplates, and on either side of him were Bulkhead and Cliffjumper, along with a dozen or so heavy Autotroopers appearing up on the cliff above.

"Well, if it isn't the son of the Prime. I hadn't realised my wake-up call would have such an esteemed guest." Skyquake said sarcastically, as he readied himself for battle. But before he could make a move however, Megatron placed a hand on his shoulder, a way of getting the large flyer to steady himself.

"Rodimus, I shall appeal to you in the same way I did with your sire. It does not have to be this way. We are on a new world, with too much energon-shed between us to continue on. And with what I heard of Ultra Magnus being taken offline, there's no tethers holding you back from taking a different course."

Rodimus merely scoffed at this. "Unfortunately, Magnus isn't dead. And as for putting this war behind us, you've got another thing coming. I may not agree with all my sire does, but his empire will be mine someday, and I can't have a murderer like you running around it any longer!"

The moment the words had been spoken, Megatron knew exactly what he had meant. "I still stand by my innocence in the tragic death of Elita, and you know there was never a proper investiga-"

But reason would not win this time it would seem, as Rodimus lunged forwards, blasting wildly at the gathered Decepticons before him. Closing in on Megatron, he transformed his arms into powerful flamethrowers, and hurled out an intense napalm-like substance onto the Decepticon leader. Megatron let out a faint cry of his pain, the overall experience nothing short of agonising, but he mustered the means to steady his fusion cannon to the now point-blank range Autobot. Rodimus quickly transformed, and raced around Megatron as to avoid being hit, the silver mech now firing wildly as the burning gel stuck to his frame, the substance digging its way into him.

Meanwhile, the Autotroopers had begun to fire at each of the gathered Decepticons, while Cliffjumper went after Soundwave. Lunging forward, he smashed his fish square into Soundwave's chest, knocking him to the ground. He then raised up his arm, as it transformed into a serrated sword.

"Take this you masked freak!" Cliffjumper said, as he thrust the blade downwards, striking into Soundwave's chestplate. However, the sturdy material of the deployer hatch didn't give in. In an instant, it flipped open, smacking Cliffjumper off of him. Soundwave unleashed his data cables, as he grabbed hold of his now stunned opponent, sending a pulse of electricity through them.

With the two Decepticon commanders busy, that only left…

"Skyquake, been a while." Bulkhead said, stalking up to the awakened Decepticon, his fists transforming into spiked energon maces. "How's it feel to spend all that time asleep, just to wake up to your demise?"

"You clearly overestimate your own prowess, Bulkhead." Skyquake said, "I may be a little rusty, but a Predator never loses sight of their prey."

"And a Wrecker never calls for backup, I'll take you on myself!" Bulkhead cried, as he lunged forward, swinging his maces towards his opponent. Skyquake's body worked faster than his processor however, and he grappled hold of spiked bludgeons as they were brought down on him, wincing in pain as he realised that it wasn't the smartest move he could have made. With a great show of force, he shifted his weight in such a way that send Bulkhead stumbling off to one side, and he reached around his back and pulled out a large gatling gun. Opening fire upon the Wrecker, he was sent off stumbling even further back, being pushed up against the cliff where the Autotroopers had been laying down suppressive fire.

Seeing a grand opportunity, Rumble and Frenzy jumped into action. Using his sonic powers, Frenzy scanned through the rocky terrain, and found the perfect weekspot in the cliff face.

"Right slaggin' there, bro." The blue deployer said, pointing to the location in question.

Seeing the spot in question, Rumble transformed his arms into his powerful pile-drivers, and began to shake up the ground around them, watching as the rock face began to crack and give way. Suddenly, the ground slid out from under the Autotrooper's feet. Hearing, and morso feeling the localised earthquake, Bulkhead looked up and around, his optics going wide as he saw the rockslide coming down onto him. Skyquake looked back to the two ex-miners, giving a nod of thanks. And, with an affirmative chirp from Laserbeak, they knew that the coast was clear.

…

Far above the canyonlands where the battle was taking place, an F-35 fighter jet was flying in to investigate the commotion. Silas had managed to intercept a communication from another pilot, and dismissed them to look into the matter himself, since agent Fowler was currently indisposed. As he flew in closer, he could now see the battle taking place below.

…

With the napalm-like gel now fully dissipated, Megatron was left lumbering to try and catch up with the Autobot speedster that kept running circles around him after every attack. It would do well to remember to try and not do battle with Rodimus in open spaces from now on, as his speed and agility had increased greatly since their last one-on-one encounter years ago.

And as if they were heading a silent call for aid, Laserbeak swooped in from above, and blasted at the ground around Rodimus, however, he managed to maneuver around the hastily made obstacles. With a burst of energy, Megatron threw himself forwards into the Rodimus' path, managing to land a punch as he went down, his body too strained for the moment.

Turning around, Rodimus revved up, as he raced towards the fallen Decepticon leader. He transformed, pulling out a short energon blade from his subspace, raising it over his head as he came down. But the final blow would not be struck, as a missile hit Rodimus, and sent him flying back. And from overhead, a fighter jet buzzed passed, and began circling the battlefield.

Just as Silas had arrived, Skyquake, along with Rumble and Frenzy, had gotten back over to where Soundwave was still locked in a stand-off with Cliffjumper, the Autobot weapons-specialist unrelenting in his attacks. It was hard to tell from a distance, but the two of them had clearly been in close combat, as they had many scrapes that dug through their paintwork, the metallic sheen of their bare frames glistening in the sunlight, as Soundwave was being pushed up against the rockface.

Dashing over to where Soundwave was backed into a corner, Skyquake brought out his sword, and cut down the remaining Autotroopers that had been with Cliffjumper, and kicked said Autobot in the lower back, causing him to topple downwards.

Believing their adversaries to be defeated for the moment, they rushed back over to where Megatron still was, down on his knees and gasping up at the sky, catching his breath. But they weren't out of the woods just yet, as the human expression went, as they suddenly heard screaming coming towards them, as they watched as Rodimus, Cliffjumper, and a returned Bulkhead ran towards them from opposite directions. As the Autobots approached, Megatron and Skyquake nodded to each other, an unspoken plan coming to them both. Once they were right on top of them, Megatron exerted the last of his energy to grab hold of Rodimus, just as Skyquake took hold of Cliffjumper, and turned the Autobots' attack against them, as they hoisted them up, spinning them around, and throwing them right into Bulkhead, leaving the three Autobots knocked out instantly.

Then, with a heavy sigh, Megatron fell back to his knees, much more gracefully this time, and sat himself down on the ground, taking the opportunity to rest. Laserbeak, Rumble and Frenzy also took this moment of peace to transform back into Soundwave, the masked mech's deployer hatch cracked and shattered from battle. Before they could signal in for a bridge back to base, the VTOL jet from before finally landed down nearby, and they watched as Silas leapt out of the cockpit, and strode over to the gathered Decepticons. Skyquake, still on high alert, shifted himself to be ready for another attack. Megatron simply held up his hand, signaling that this was no threat to them.

"Your lucky I was here to save your rear end, Megatron. I don't see how much longer you could have survived without backup." Silas said coldly, as he reached the Decepticons.

"Thank you, Colonel Bishop. However, I must ask, what brings you here? Such matters involving us are usually handled by agent Fowler." Megatron asked.

"Ideally, yes. However, Fowler has been held up in D.C. the past week in private hearings with the higher-ups about you Cybertronians and your war." Silas said. He looked up, and realised that he didn't recognise the large magenta and silver flight frame standing there.

"New recruit?" he asked, pointing up at Skyquake.

"No, no. This is Skyquake, leader of the Predators, or 'Squadron X' as some people know them. They are my elite special operations team."

"Uh, nice to meet you." Skyquake said, wearilly. It's not that he did not necessarily distrust the small organic that stood before him, it's just that he sure didn't remember these things back when he first arrived on the planet. He looked over to Silas' jet, doing a quick scan of it, taking in how advanced this species, the "humans" he learned as Soundwave pinged him over comms, just was.

"You don't mind if I…" Skyquake said, gesturing over to the aircraft.

With a sign, Silas agreed, "Fine, fine. Just don't break it. Its experimental tech."

Skyquake scanned the jet once more, this time fully taking in the details of every mechanism and aspect of it. His body quickly moved some panels around, and his cybertronian wings reformed into ones more closely resembling that of the alt-mode he had taken on.

A groaning sound was heard behind them, and they turned around to see that the Autobots wouldn't be out cold for much longer. As if on instinct, Soundwave opened up a ground bridge back to the Nemesis. Skyquake, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, helped Megatron back to his pedes, and the Decepticons walked through the bridge back to base.

Upon returning to the bridge of the Nemesis, there was a clear difference in the overall atmosphere of the place. Firstly, the Constructicons were now busy helping out with the kids school projects instead of Starscream. And secondly, there were various colored oils and liquids splattered all over the walls, and even on the ceiling, where the human's raised platform was.

"I'm guessing that, this isn't normal." Skyquake said, observing the, for lack of better terms, disaster zone as he helped Megatron to his chair.

"You can thank ol' Starscream for this mess." Mixmaster said, as he and Raf worked together on what was clearly a new version of the young genius' volcano. "'Seasoned chemist' my aft, maybe if he wasn't so rusty he wouldn't of let this mess all happen."

"Yeah, Scream went total control freak with our projects after you guys left." Miko said, as she was piecing together a new model of Pluto, the last planet for her diorama of the solar system, now help up by Hook's crane. "When he started helping me out, he changed my entire diorama into that of Cybertron's solar system!"

"Yeah, and just smashed her first model, so we've had to start from scratch." Hook said.

"And he tried turning my internal-combustion engine into a small energon reactor." Jack said, as he was fixing up his model motorcycle engine, energon and oil clearly splattered on the walls nearby.

"No way he would have ever even been qualified to do work on such a thing, so I couldn't tell you where he got the crazed idea from." Scrapper said, handing Jack a better-size wrench for what he was working on.

"If he caused all this, then where is the Air Commander now?" Skyquake asked, not seeing him anywhere.

"Confined to quarters." Barricade said, looking up from his terminal. "Temporarily, of course. Just until he cools down, that is."

Megatron had a good chuckle at this, the mental image of Starscream constantly fussing over their work a humorous one indeed.

"No offence boss, but you look like scrap." Hook said, peering over to where their leader was sat. "If I wasn't preoccupied, id drag you down to the medbay myself."

"No, your right. I should go see Knockout. Skyquake, do you mind?" said Megatron

"Not at all, sir." Skyquake said, as he helped Megatron up. As they reached the door, it dawned on him that he had no idea where he was going.

"Don't worry, I can guide you. It would do you well to learn the layout of our base." Megatron said. "And I suppose it would be best to catch you up on events since you were last awake." he continued as he told him the way, and explained all that had happened in his absence.