Disclaimer:Transformers belongs to Hasbro, Takara, etc. The only thing in this that belongs to me is Arcee's sister.
A few days after the Autobots and Fowler destroyed the Decepticons' fortress, Darkmount with a squadron of military fighter jets, Optimus was standing inside of the Autobots' new base, Hangar E as Fowler was driving a massive military truck towards him before stopping in front of the Prime.
"Prime, what we have here is an experimental All-Terrain Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, designed by the finest engineers in our M.A.S.K. division," Fowler explained to Optimus as he opened the door of the massive military truck that he was driving.
"Thank you, Agent Fowler," Optimus told the special agent as he climbed down from the military truck, "This will most certainly do."
The Prime then stepped forward as a light blue light was emitted from both of his optics and onto the massive military truck with the diagram of the massive military truck appearing in both of his optics as he began scanning the military truck as he began to copy its data into his processor.
The next day at Unit E, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee, Chromette, Afterburner along with Jazz, who now had the frame of a porsche, Prowl, who now had the frame of a Fairlady-Z police car, and Springer, who now had the frame of an Earth-based armored car and helicopter as both Wreckers were standing near one of the base's catwalks, while Arcee, Bumblebee, Chromette and Afterburner were walking around the base with Perceptor, who now had the frame of an Earth-based microscope and an armored tank stood at one of the base's scientific stations as Ratchet stood near their base's newly constructed Ground Bridge controls with Miko standing on the catwalk behind the Autobot medic as a Ground Bridge portal opened up.
"Return trajectory fluctuations have been stabilized," Raf, who was sitting at a desk across from Ratchet with his laptop, reported to the Autobot medic.
"Ultra Magnus and Ironhide, we are ready to receive the both of you," Ratchet said, contacting both Ultra Magnus and Ironhide with the Ground Bridge's controls before pulling one of the switches down.
As he said that, two trucks drove through the Ground Bridge Portal, one of them was dark blue with a bit of red on it and was a similar truck to Optimus' previous frame with a cube on the back end of the truck with the other truck being a red Ford F-15 SVT Raptor with a few more cubes being on the back of the SVT Raptor as well and they were none other than Ultra Magnus and Ironhide.
Both Bumblebee and Prowl went to pick up the cubes from the backs of Ultra Magnus and Ironhide's alternate modes before they transformed into their robot modes and began walking forward.
"We didn't find much else in the rubble of the former base," Ultra Magnus told everyone.
"The 'Cons must've took everything else from your previous base," Ironhide added, agreeing with him.
"You call this…" Wheeljack began to say as he appeared from the Ground Bridge portal with a lobball in one of his servos with Rodimus, who now had the frame of a long-nose truck and Jetfire, who now had the frame of an F-14 Tomcat Military jet, standing next to him, "'not much else'?"
Wheeljack then rotated his body around and threw the lobball at Bulkhead with the lobball colliding with his frame before it bounced off it and before flying towards where Miko was standing as Perceptor looked up from something that he was working on.
"Miko, look out!" Afterburner called out to the Japanese exchange student as he watched the lobball head towards her before she ducked away from the oncoming lobball as it collided with the door to Fowler's office.
"Thanks for the warning, Afterburner," Miko told Afterburner as she looked at him.
"No problem, Miko," Afterburner replied.
"Wheeljack!" Ratchet yelled at the Wrecker with anger as he began walking away from the Ground Bridge controls, "You could've caused serious damage."
"To me!" Miko added as she stood up and placed her hands over her hips.
Inside Fowler's office, paper and pencils were flown from the special agent's desk and onto the floor, while he was knocked out of his chair.
"What in the Sam Hill?" Fowler muttered to himself as he stood up and walked over to the door, which the lobball had broken and opened the door and saw the lobball within the doorway and began to speak to everyone outside of his office with his voice being muffled, due to the lobball, "A little help here?"
"What were you thinking, soldier?" Ultra Magnus asked Wheeljack.
"I was thinking Bulk would catch that lob," the Wrecker answered as he turned to Ultra Magnus.
"But in doing so, you almost put Miko in danger," Rodimus told him, agreeing with Ultra Magnus.
"Which could have killed her," Ironhide added, agreeing with Ultra Magnus.
"Allow me to make myself clear," Ultra Magnus told Wheeljack as he stepped towards him, "As Optimus Prime's second-in-command, I have no intention of tolerating Wrecker behavior."
"Some things never change," Wheeljack muttered as everyone stared at the Wrecker scientist.
"Jackie…" Bulkhead began to say.
"Need I remind you that it was Optimus Prime himself who assigned me to command your Wreckers back on Cybertron and get you loose cannons under control?" Ultra Magnus asked Wheeljack after he grunted for a second as Miko and Raf looked at him with shock, "An effective combat unit begins with discipline. If you won't accept that, feel free to choose the path of least resistance… as you did before."
"If my ship weren't a twisted wreck at present, I'd do that… sir," Wheeljack told him as he walked away from him and walked past everyone.
"So, any word from Optimus?" Ultra Magnus asked Ratchet as he turned to him after sighing.
"He's currently investigating recent Decepticon activity, hopefully an Energon mine," Ratchet answered as he turned to him.
Miles away from the Autobots' base and in the sky, Optimus was flying around with his jetpack and battle mask activated, doing like what Ratchet told Ultra Magnus and was investigating where Decepticons have been lately before he noticed something in the distance and began flying towards it.
As he reached the location that spiked his curiosity, he landed on the ground in front of a mine and deactivated his jetpack.
"Hmm," Optimus muttered as he approached the mine's entrance before transforming into his new alternate mode with his headlights on as he began to drive through the mine.
"How rad would it be if you all had jetpacks like Optimus or wings like Afterburner and Jetfire?" Miko asked Arcee, Bulkhead, Chromette, Perceptor and Ratchet as she stood in front of them.
"Quite rad, Miko," Ratchet answered as he looked away from something that he was working on with Perceptor and looked at the Forge of Solus Prime, which was standing near one of the base's catwalks, "But the forge has been depleted of its power to do that."
"Now it's only good for pounding out dings," Bulkhead added.
They all then heard the sound of a car's engine approaching as they saw a red, blue and gray McLaren MP4-12C with double 38s on both of its doors entering the hangar before skidding to a stop near them.
"Smokescreen?" Arcee said with surprise.
"Aw, what gave me away?" Smokescreen asked them.
"The vehicle mode," Chromette answered, "And that you've inverted most of your colors."
"Does it look better than before?" Smokescreen asked her.
"I wouldn't care how you looked," she answered.
"Where have you been, soldier?" Ultra Magnus asked Smokescreen as he walked towards him.
"Scanning new war paint," Smokescreen answered, "Thought it'd be proactive to follow Optimus' lead…" He then gestured to Bumblebee, who was stacking cubes with Prowl and Jazz, "and Bumblebee's." As he said that, Bumblebee turned to him as he finished stacking one of the cubes and buzzed a response.
"Now you can look your best while stacking those empty cubes," Ultra Magnus told him as he looked at dozens of empty cubes stacked upon one another near one of the hangar's walls.
"Yes, sir," Smokescreen replied before he began walking towards the stacked empty cubes as he softly spoke to himself, "Me and Chromette both almost made Afterburner a Prime, but somehow I'm still a rookie."
"What was that about a Prime?" Ratchet asked him as he overheard what Smokescreen said and looked up at him from repairing one of his medical tools.
"Yeah, what was that you said, Smokescreen?" Perceptor said, agreeing with the Autobot medic as he looked up from an invention that he was creating as he heard what Smokescreen said as well.
"Uh…no, time," Smokescreen lied, "Time to stop acting like a rookie."
"Smokescreen and my sister were the only ones who went back," Arcee said as she approached Ratchet and Perceptor, who continued to work on repairing their medical tool and invention that they were creating as Smokescreen continued walking towards the stacked empty cubes near one of the hangar's walls, "If it weren't for either of them, Optimus might not be with us today."
"Arcee, we were under the strictest of orders," Ratchet told her as he looked at her as he stopped repairing his medical tool, "You had to teach and help Jack or as he's now called Afterburner to scan a vehicle and Bulkhead and Bumblebee had their human partners to protect. But we are fortunate that Smokescreen is inexperienced enough not to have followed protocol, while I am surprised that Chromette went back to save Optimus as well."
Back in the mine that Optimus was traversing through in his alternate mode, the Constructicons were digging through one of the mine's walls with Bonecrusher having one of his servos transformed into a drill before removing it from the wall as he saw a bone of some kind within the wall.
"I see what Lord Megatron wanted," Bonecrusher reported to the other Constrcticons as he transformed his servo that was a drill back into his servo as he went to grab the bone.
"Abandon the excavation," every single one of the Constructicons heard Optimus say as he turned away from the mine's wall and towards one of the corridors and saw Optimus at the end of the corridor in his new alternate mode with his headlights on, "Now."
"Attack!" Scavenger ordered the Constructicons as he transformed one of his servos into a blaster with most the other Constructicons doing the same as Optimus began driving towards them as he fired three missiles at them, knocking a few of them backwards as Scavenger began running towards the Prime, only for Optimus to knock him backwards as the Constructicon tripped over his alternate mode before he transformed into his robot mode.
Optimus then rushed towards Long and dragged him across the mine's tunnel before uppercutting him, knocking the Constructicon out as Bonecrusher went to grab the bone from the wall before he transformed into his newly scanned Earth-based bulldozer alternate mode and quickly drove past Optimus as the other Constructicons regained consciousness transformed into their newly scanned Earth-based alternate modes and went to leave the mine as well.
As Optimus stared at the hole in the wall created by one of Bonecrusher's drills, he stared at the bone with confusion, surprise and disbelief. He soon realized what the bone was and there was one question he was asking himself. What's a Predacon bone doing here on Earth?
Back at Unit E, Raf was typing on a computer as a Ground Bridge opened up with Optimus stepping through it as he held the Predacon bone in his servos.
"Optimus, did you find Energon?" Ratchet asked the Prime as he walked past him, Preceptor, Ultra Magnus and Ironhide.
"No. But I did uncover this," Optimus answered as he placed the Predacon bone on a table in front of him as Arcee, Chromette, Jazz, Prowl, Bumblebee and Smokescreen began to walk towards the table.
"It cannot be," Ratchet muttered with shock and disbelief as he stared at the Predacon bone.
"What is it?" Afterburner asked Ratchet as the Autobot medic began walking towards the Predacon bone.
"The Ancient remains… of a Predacon," Optimus answered.
"Though it remains unclear why such a skull would be found on your planet, its presence reveals all too much about the Predacon which Megatron recently sent in pursuit of us," Ratchet stated as every single Autobot was now standing in front and staring at the Predacon bone with Miko standing on top of the table and next to the bone.
"You mean that dragon bot that we put on ice?" Miko asked him as she turned towards the Autobot medic.
"Indeed," Preceptor confirmed.
"Except that Predacons have been extinct since, well…" Ratchet began to say.
"Since before most life began on Cybertron," Smokescreen said, finishing his train of thought.
"And were some of Onyx Prime's descendents," Chromette added.
"They're like Earth's dinosaurs," Raf stated as he walked along the top of the table.
"Which means, for us, running into one would be like me, Raf and Miko meeting a T-Rex if I was still human," Afterburner added.
"So then what were Dinobots?" Miko asked them as she turned to Bulkhead.
"Totally different," Bulkhead answered.
"He's right as they were a squad of Autobots that were experimented on and given what you humans refer to as Dinosaur-based alternate modes," Ironhide added.
"And me, Cliffjumper and Sideswipe were sent to find them a few days before we left Cybertron after Grimlock and his team deserted his post before the Ark launched from Cybertron," Jazz added before turning to Arcee, "I'm sorry about what happened to Cliffjumper, Arcee."
"Thanks, Jazz," Arcee told him, "He was a good friend.
"Anyways, with Megatron's seeming new interest in the excavation of prehistoric skeletons, the Constrcticons and a certain scientist back among the Decepticon ranks…" Ratchet began to say.
"It would stand to reason that Shockwave cloned the beast from one such find," Optimus said, finishing the Autobot medic's train of thought.
"And now Megatron's looking to clone another," Ultra Magnus added.
"Or even a bunch of them," Jetfire stated.
"What makes you think Buckethead would stop at just one?" Wheeljack asked Ultra Magnus, agreeing with the Autobot flier as he looked up at him.
"We could have beast wars on our hands," Bulkhead stated.
"That's a great point, Bulk," Rodimus said, agreeing with him.
"And if Shockwave only requires a single strand of CNA from which to clone a beast…" Ratchet began to say as he looked at Optimus.
"He already possesses what he needs to endanger this one," Optimus stated before turning to the other Autobots, "Autobots, we must become Beast Hunters."
"One thing still doesn't follow," Smokescreen told him, "Predacons went extinct on Cybertron. So what would their bones be doing here?"
"I think it's pretty obvious, Smoke," Chromette stated.
"She's right, Shockwave is a scientist," Prowl told Smokescreen, "And what do scientists usually do?"
On the Nemesis, the piece of the Predacon bone that Bonecrusher broke from the rest of the Predacon bone that Optimus took was placed on one of the Decepticon warship's computer systems as Starscream, Slipstream, Barricade and Blitzwing stared at it with confusion and disbelief. They couldn't believe their optics and were having the same question in their processors. What is a Predacon bone doing on Earth of all places?
"On Earth?" Starscream said, voicing everyone's question, "I mean isn't it just a little preposterous?"
"They are not the remains of Predacons, Starscream," Megatron told him as Shockwave picked up the piece of the Predacon bone, "But rather, the remains of Predacon clones."
"You mean that Shockwave has cloned the remains of Predacons before?" Slipstream asked Megatron with surprise.
"Indeed, Slipstream," Megatron confirmed, "For you see… our recent Autobot hunter wasn't the first bestial super-soldier Shockwave ever attempted to breed from prehistoric matter. During the war for Cybertron, I sanctioned the dispatch of a small army of these Preda-clones to Earth to unleash the beasts on unwitting Autobot forces stationed here. Once they accomplished their mission, the surviving Predacons held sentinel on this very world for the ages to come, guarding the Energon reserves they had managed to secure while awaiting my arrival. Of course, our reunion here was much delayed, and it would seem we lost the beasts to the ravages of time."
"But not their endo-matter, from which I am logically able to extract their very CNA," Shockwave added as Megatron clenched his servo.
"Pff. Another scavenger hunt?" Starscream scoffed in disbelief, recalling their last scavenger hunt for the Iacon relics, "How logical would it really be to locate all the dusty remains of your former pets?"
"You are not suggesting that I would send my creations to a distant planet without first having them… micro-chipped?" Shockwave asked him with disbelief.
"Well… Well, I was," Starscream said with shock, "But, seriously, you did?"
"Why wouldn't Shockwave do that, Starscream?" Slipstream asked him with surprise, "He's a scientist for Primus sakes."
"She makes a point, Commander," Barricade said, agreeing with the femme seeker.
"Yeah, she does," Blitzwing told them, agreeing with Slipstream and Barricade.
Back at UNIT E, Ratchet had pulled up images of metallic dragons on the Cybertronian computer systems with everyone staring at them as Afterburner, Raf and Miko all looking at them with surprise on their faces as the former human was standing beside the catwalk and in front of Raf and Miko.
"From our historical texts," Ratchet told everyone.
"But those are metal versions of creatures from Greek mythology and medieval literature," Afterburner stated with disbelief in his voice.
"Not dinosaurs," Raf added.
"It would stand to reason that Predacons did indeed walk upon this earth in ancient times, as they seem to have been the basis for much of humankind's folklore," Optimus stated as he turned towards Afterburner and both humans on the catwalk, "Illustrating once again that the pasts of Earth and Cybertron are inextricably linked."
Later that night, Raf was sleeping on his stomach and on the couch around the catwalk with his glasses removed and were placed on the table in front of the couch, while Miko was sleeping on the other couch on her side and was snoring.
As the two humans were sleeping, Ultra Magnus was operating one of the Cybertronian computer systems with Rodimus operating the one on the other side of him. Optimus approached Ratchet, who was operating another Cybertronian computer system with Perceptor. The Prime recognized what the Autobots' medic and scientist were studying from the screen in front of them. It was none other than the very type of Energon that Ratchet once tested on himself and caused havoc for everyone, Synthetic Energon.
There was one thing on his mind, why were they studying Synthetic Energon?
"Synthetic Energon?" Optimus asked them.
"Indeed," Ratchet confirmed before he and Perceptor turned around towards him, "We are concerned that without access to any Energon reserves since our base was destroyed, our ability to deal with impending crises will severely be hampered."
"Ratchet is correct, Optimus. Our current Energon reserves are insufficient for sustained operations," Perceptor said, agreeing with the Autobot medic, "The Synthetic Energon could potentially provide us with a viable alternative. However, we must proceed with caution given the previous incidents. We're currently working on refining the formula to minimize the risks."
"A wise decision, old friend, yours too, Perceptor," Optimus told them.
"Just, please… manage your expectations," Ratchet muttered as he gestured towards the low tech tools on a floor next to him and Perceptor with his left servo, "We are working with even more rudimentary hardware than I did before."
"Prime!" They suddenly heard Fowler call out to Optimus, causing them to turn around towards one of the catwalks to see the special agent standing there as he held onto the catwalk's railing, "Satellite surveillance has picked up two signs of Decepticon activity: one near an oil field outside of El Paso, the other near the Hebrides bluffs in Scotland." As he was speaking, the other Autobots turned towards him, while Miko suddenly woke up, "So don't forget to pack your kilts."
"We must divide our resources," Optimus stated before he turned towards Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers, "Ultra Magnus, lead the Wreckers to the bluffs."
"Yes, Optimus," Ultra Magnus replied as he nodded his head before he walked towards him, "Uh… What's a kilt?"
"Agent Fowler can, at times, be oblique," Optimus explained, "I find it best to simply nod and mobilize."
"Rodimus, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Springer, Jetfire, let's roll," Ultra Magnus ordered the Wreckers, causing Wheeljack to let out a sigh as Ultra Magnus walked away from them and walked towards the Forge of Solus Prime, "Optimus, I know there are many emotions tied to the Forge."
"This is no time to stand on ceremony," Optimus told him before Ultra Magnus grabbed the Forge with both of his servos.
"I would be honored to put this to some practical use," Ultra Magnus stated as he held the Force up.
On a bridge at the oil fields in El Paso, a Ground Bridge opened up as Optimus, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Prowl and Ironhide drove through it in their alternate modes along with Afterburner, who was in his ground alternate mode before they all transformed into their robot modes as Optimus looked in the distance ahead of them.
"I will search this quadrant," Optimus told his fellow autobots as he turned towards them, "Afterburner, with me."
"Yes, sir," Afterburner replied as Optimus activated his battle mask and jetpack, while he transformed into his aerial alternate mode and flew away from Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Prowl and Ironhide, who in turn transformed back into their alternate modes and drove down the bridge as Optimus and Afterburner continued to fly across the area.
As Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Ironhide and Prowl reached the oil field's pump-jacks, they all transformed back into their robot forms with Smokescreen and Prowl transforming their servos into their blasters, while Ironhide and Bumblebee deployed their blasters from their arms as they stealthily walked around the area in case of Decepticons being nearby.
"Hey, Bee, have you ever thought you might wanna be a Prime?" Smokescreen asked Bumblebee as the four of them stopped near one of the oil rigs and lowered his arms before Bumblebee turned around and buzzed a response, "Not now. Someday. Maybe after Afterburner becomes one."
The scout then buzzed another response as he continued walking forward.
"'Warrior,'" Smokescreen repeated, "Yeah, you and me both."
"Bumblebee, I've seen you since the war on Cybertron. You've got the spark of a Prime like Afterburner does," Ironhide told the scout, "But it's your choice, and it's a big one. Take your time."
"But I've seen you in action, Optimus knows you can scrap with the best of 'em," Smokescreen stated as he aimed his blasters around them again, "Why won't he just promote you from Scout already?"
Bumblebee then buzzed yet another response as he walked on.
"Your choice? Hmm. So, why wait?" Smokescreen asked the scout before Bumblebee stopped walking and turned around as he lowered his arms and buzzed an explanation, "Guess it would be more meaningful to graduate back home on Cybertron. You're one patient guy. I should take a cue."
"Patience is a virtue in times of peace and a luxury in times of war," Prowl stated, "Bumblebee, your decision to wait shows your wisdom. And wisdom is a quality of a true leader."
The scout then gave them a gesture with his right servo as they hid near a cargo container as they saw an Energon drill drilling into a rock. The four of them then began heading towards the drill as three ground Vehicons stood on top of two silos behind the Autobots. Their servos were transformed into their blasters before they powered them up and began firing them at the autobots, causing Bumblebee and Prowl to hide behind a ground of cargo containers stacked on top of one another, while Smokescreen and Ironhide hid behind a pump-jack.
The Vehicons began firing his blaster at the scout, who began firing his right blaster back at him. As this was happening, Smokescreen and Ironhide snuck towards the other side of the pump-jacks and behind a cargo container and fired their blasters at two Vehicons, causing them to fall to the ground. Two Vehicons then began running towards them, firing their blasters at them before they got out of cover and began firing their blasters back at the Vehicons before Smokescreen and Ironhide suddenly disappeared from the Vehicons line of sight.
The two Vehicons stopped firing their blasters as they looked on with confusion when they suddenly saw Smokescreen appear from the pump-jack's pipe and jumped towards them, firing his right blaster at them. As this was happening, Ironhide appeared from the other side and fired both of his cannons at the Vehicons as Smokescreen grabbed one of the Vehicons and threw it at the other Vehicon.
Both Vehicons were then flung towards the other side of the oil field with one of them landing in front of one of the pump-jacks. Smokescreen and Ironhide then stood on both sides of a drilling rig as they pointed upwards with their left servos' digits, causing the Vehicon to look up when the pump-jack suddenly crashed down onto his head, shattering his optics.
Bumblebee and Prowl continued to fire their blasters at Vehicons as the two Autobots were now out of hiding. Bumblebee destroyed one of the Vehicons when one of the other Vehicons began firing their blaster at Bumblebee, only for Prowl to kick them backwards with his right pede. Another Vehicon then tried sneaking up on him, only for him to grab him by his blaster and rotated him around before knocking him out with his right servo as Bumblebee knocked another of the Vehicons out. They then suddenly sensed two people behind them, causing them to turn around and aimed their blasters at them, only to see that they were Smokescreen and Ironhide.
"Like I said, you got nice chops for a scout," Smokescreen told Bumblebee, causing him to lower his arms.
The four of them suddenly heard large footsteps in the distance and saw Shockwave in the distance with a Predacon bone in his servo. The four Autobots entered battle stances as they saw the Decepticons mad scientist. Shockwave then fired his Hyperflux cannon at them, only to miss as the Autobots evaded the blast and landed on their pedes as Smokescreen and Prowl transformed their servos back into blasters, while Bumblebee deployed his blasters from his arms with Ironhide doing the same with his cannons and began firing them back at the Decepticon mad scientist.
Shockwave rotated his Hyperflux cannon around and fired it at one of the oil field's pump-jacks, destroying it instantly as oil began spilling like rain from it. As the oil began raining onto the ground, more of the jack-pumps began to explode, causing the four Autobots began to run away before they were suddenly knocked onto their pedes.
"How epic was that?" Smokescreen asked them when Shockwave suddenly transformed into his Cybertronian war tank alternate mode and drove away from the oil field before the four Autobots began to follow him as they transformed into their alternate modes.
As the four Autobots chased Shockwave, the Decepticon mad scientist rotated his Hyperflux cannon around towards them and fired it at them, only for the Autobots to evade the blast. Shockwave soon got off the dirt road and began driving across the bridge as Optimus and Afterburner began flying towards him.
As he saw the Prime and Triple changer, Shockwave rotated his Hyperflux cannon back around towards them and began firing it at them before they stopped flying towards him. Afterburner suddenly transformed into his robot form as they both hovered in mid-air and transformed their left servos into their blasters and fired them at the Decepticon mad scientist. As their blasts reached Shockwave on the bridge, the Decepticon mad scientist rolled around a few times as he transformed back into his robot mode as the Predacon bone flew out of his servo a few meters away from him.
"Whoo! And that's why he's a Prime and Afterburner is training to become one!" Smokescreen cried, happily as Optimus and Afterburner flew past him, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Prowl.
As Shockwave looked at the Predacon bone, a Ground Bridge suddenly opened up in front of him. Just then, Soundwave, in his alternate mode, suddenly flew through the Ground Bridge and began flying towards the Autobots and began firing his blasters at them.
"Soundwave," Smokescreen muttered as he saw the Decepticons' chief of communications as he flew past them.
Shockwave looked at Soundwave before he looked back at the Predacon bone and began running towards it. As this was happening, both Optimus and Afterburner evaded Soundwave's lasers as he chased after them. The Prime and Triple changer suddenly saw Shockwave running towards the Predacon bone on the bridge and picked it up with his servo as he looked back at them.
He then looked at the four Autobots chasing him before he began running towards the Ground Bridge portal when Bumblebee suddenly transformed into his robot form and kicked the Decepticon mad scientist with his right pede, knocking Shockwave backwards as the scout skidded underneath him. The rest of the Autobots suddenly transformed into their robot modes as well with Smokescreen stepping on his helm with his pede before jumping off of him. Bumblebee suddenly ran towards Shockwave and grabbed the other side of the Predacon bone with his servos. Shockwave noticed him and knocked him backwards with the front of his Hyperflux cannon, damaging part of the bridge.
Smokescreen, Prowl and Ironhide, who had transformed their servos and deployed their cannons began firing them at the Decepticon mad scientist as they ran towards him. Shockwave suddenly fired his Hyperflux cannon at them, only for the three autobots to evade his blast as they fired their blasters and cannons back at them, only for him to cover his optic with his Hyperflux cannon before Smokescreen noticed the Predacon bone as Shockwave fired his Hyperflux cannon at him, knocking him backwards.
Soundwave deployed Laserbeak as he continued to chase and fire upon Optimus and Afterburner.
"Enough," Optimus stated as he rotated around towards Soundwave and grabbed his machine gun from his backplate and began firing it at the Decepticon as Afterburner did the same and transformed his right servo into his blaster and began firing it at Soundwave
"Optimus, look out!" Afterburner warned the Prime as he stopped firing his blaster as he watched as Laserbeak flew onto Optimus' backplate as he fired his machine gun at Soundwave and deployed two cables before he began electrocuting him with them, causing Optimus to grunt as he began flying downwards and crashed into one of the pillars holding the bridge before crashing onto the ground below on his tanks.
As this was happening, Laserbeak flew onto the young Triple changer's back and began electrocuting him on his backplate as well, causing him to grunt as he flew down towards the ground below on his tanks as well.
Soundwave suddenly transformed into his robot mode as he flew towards a cliff overlooking the bridge and ran towards the cliff as he saw Optimus and Afterburner slowly crawling on their pedes as the Prime's jetpack retracted back into his backplate. He then looked over towards the bridge and saw Shockwave battling the other Autobots.
Bumblebee was on Shockwave's backplate before the mad scientist flung him forward and aimed his Hyperflux cannon at him and powered it up. As he went to fire his cannon at Bumblebee, he felt Smokescreen grabbing his cannon's tread with his servos before he fung on across towards the other side of the bridge and in front of its rail guard, causing him to grunt and groan.
The Decepticon mad scientist then began walking towards him before he ran towards him as Smokescreen activated the Phase Shifter and phased through Shockwave and grabbed onto the other end of the Predacon bone and began to pull at it as Prowl and Ironhide began firing their blasters and cannons at Shockwave.
The Predacon bone began creaking from Smokescreen and Shockwave pulling on it before Smokescreen let out a grunt when Bumblebee suddenly grabbed hold of the side of the bone that Shockwave was holding onto with both of his servos as the other two autobots continued firing their weapons at the Decepticon mad scientist and within a few seconds of pulling at it, the Predacon bone split into four parts with one part of it flying over the bridge's guard rail.
On the ground below, Optimus and Afterburner stood back up as they noticed the fourth piece of the Predacon bone falling down from the bridge before Optimus reactivated his jetpack and flew towards it with Afterburner doing the same. suddenly locked onto the Predacon bone with it appearing on his visor and as Optimus and Afterburner began to reach the Predacon bone, a Ground Bridge portal suddenly appeared between them and the Predacon bone.
As the Predacon bone phased through the portal, it landed within the Nemesis and in Megatron's right servo as he held it up into the air.
"No!" Optimus muttered as the Ground Bridge portal closed before him and Afterburner.
"We have all that we need," Shockwave told Soundwave as he looked at him from the bridge as Laserbeak flew back towards the Decepticons' communication and reattached himself to Soundwave's torso before he transformed back into his alternate mode and flew towards and across the bridge as Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Ironhide and Prowl fired their weapons at him, only to evade their firepower as he and Shockwave entered their Ground Bridge portal.
Optimus and Afterburner suddenly landed on top of the bridge in between their fellow autobots with the Prime's jetpack retracting back into his backplate.
"A single strand of CNA…" Smokescreen began to say.
"...is all they need to clone an entire army of Predacons," Afterburner finished for him, "We can't let that happen. Let's hope that Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers are having better luck than we are."
"Afterburner's right. We can't afford to let the Decepticons get their hands on an army of Predacons," Ironhide said, agreeing with the Triple changer, "We've got to stop them, no matter what."
"Agreed," Powl stated, agreeing with them, "We need a plan to prevent this. Let's hope Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers are making progress on their end."
Inside the Nemesis, the piece of the Predacon bone that the Decepticons recovered had been placed on a Cybertronian table within one of the warship's rooms as the Decepticon mad scientist was examining it.
"Shockwave," Megatron said as he approached the Decepticon mad scientist from the other side of the table before Shockwave stood up and looked at him, "I understand that you engaged Optimus Prime and their former human pet turned newest recruit in the field."
"Only in order to secure the specimen, Lord Megatron," Shockwave explained.
"I believed that you had perished once, my most prized engineer, and I highly doubt that Project Predacon can be completed without you," Megatron stated as he picked up the piece of the Predacon bone with his left servo's digits and walked around the table.
"I shall leave the fetching of bones to Starscream, Slipstream, Barricade and Blitzwing, and confine myself to my laboratory in order to accelerate results."
"Excellent… for I am rather impatient to witness my army of beasts trample humankind underfoot," Megatron stated as he stared at the piece of the Predacon bone.
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