Optimus opened his optics, looking around to see where he was.

"What has happened? Who has brought me here?" He asked.

"I did." Stripes spoke up after a few seconds. "I am Stripes, the son of Primus. I'm sure you are wondering how you have been brought here. Let me explain. We must be swift, because time is short…"

# # # # # #

"I see." Optimus said. "So Unicron has awakened, his heralds are in pursuit of you, and we need to teach you the art of combat so you can defeat Unicron's heralds, and then Unicron himself."

"Yep." Stripes said. "It's a rather dicey and dire situation right now, Optimus Prime."

"Then we must proceed swiftly with your training," Optimus said. "We cannot afford to delay."

"Agreed," Megatron said. "Let's get back to the ship,"

# # # # #

Nemesis

Training Area

Stripes stood in the arena, holding one blunt training sword getting ready to train with Razor, being supervised by Megatron.

"Now, use your left hand only to wield the sword. Knock down Razor with just your melee combat skills. No powers, no Primus abilities, just the blade."

"Why just my left?" Stripes asked.

"Because you may not always have your right hand, now do it." Megatron said with some annoyance in his voice, motioning to Sentinel prime and his prosthetic servo arm as an example. Stripes picked up on the reference.

"...You ready, Razor?"

Megatron let out an annoyed groan with a facepalm, cutting in before Razor could answer. "This is not a human dueling etiquette ritual! Do not ask him, attack him!"

No more words needed to be said. Stripes went into combat with Razor, using some fencing techniques he had learned on Earth when he was human. Razor's style was unorthodox, but still effective. Something he most likely learned from street fighting. Stripes kept his guard up, parry backwards when necessary and advancing with every opening he could see, eventually bringing Razor down.

"Not bad, kid." Razor complimented as he got back up off the floor.

"Good," Megatron praised, him and the other Autobots and Decepticons giving Stripes a short round of applause. He then grabbed three more training sword and motioned for Sideways to step forward. He gave two to Sideways, and the remaining one to Stripes.

"Now, do it again, with two weapons and an extra opponent: One weapon in each hand. Again, no powers, no Primus abilities. Let us see what you can do when your hands and mind are divided. No techniques other than weapon skill."

The next session was more difficult than Stripes anticipated. He was not used to fighting with two weapons in each hand. He was able to adapt to the situation, and after a hard-fought match, he was able to bring both Razor and Sideways down.

"Excellent!" Megatron praised. "Well done! Now, divest yourself of your weapons – Razor, Sideways, you shall keep yours. Let us see what you can do when you have no weapons left to you. Now – Attack them!"

This was by far the most difficult training session Stripes had been through. He had to react and dodge quickly, using nothing but his hands and feet to attack while dodging Sideways' and Razor's training blades! Eventually, he managed to disarm and bring down both of his opponents.

Megatron and the other Autobots and Decepticons gave Stripes another round of applause. Megatron then spoke. "It is enough for today. There is more that Optimus Prime can teach you tomorrow. For now, you know as much of battle as I. Now, got meet with Prime, and see what he has to teach you."

# # # # #

Nemesis – Port Dormitory

Stripes walked into the Port Dormitory to see Optimus Prime sitting on the floor, cross-legged in a meditative position. Stripes walked around him to get a look at his face plates. Prime's Optics were closed, and his expression suggested that he was focusing very hard on something.

Stripes looked out the window, seeing the backdrop of stars sweep by as the Nemesis flew through space, orbiting Cybertron. The entire planet, despite it's metal, uneven layered surface, looked like a jeweled metal marble. Stripes admired the view, remembering what little of the surface of the planet he had seen so far.

"Have you finished your combat training with Megatron?" Prime asked.

"Yes, I have, Optimus Prime." Stripes replied. "Megatron told me to report to you for what I need to learn from you,"

"I see. Sit with me, Stripes." Optimus said. "For in order to fight to defend Cybertron, you must first understand it's history,"

Stripes sat down across from Optimus Prime, and noticed a holographic projector in front of him.

"I am ready to learn," Stripes said.

"Good. Unfortunately, our time table demands that we must be swift, so I shall give you a simplified version of our history in order to show you what you are fighting for. You must not just know how to fight, but what you are fighting for…"

With that, Stripes turned his full focus on Optimus and his teachings.