A/N: Hey there, gang! Welcome back to the story and I hope you guys are all ready, because we've got quite a few new nefarious faces to meet. Admittedly, this is a bit of a shorter chapter, but I'm still getting back into the swing of things this week. In fact, this chapter was originally slated to be slightly longer, but I decided to ultimately leave the last part out and put it at the beginning of the NEXT chapter, as I think it'd just make more sense for it to be there. Okay, so with all that out of the way, let's see what our good guys are doing so we can get to the REAL meat and potatoes of the chapter. Also, stay tuned afterward to hear some descriptions and voice actors for our villains! This is…

Chapter 6: New Villains

…..

"So, just to be clear… how boned ARE we?"

Kyoka's question posed a valid concern amongst the group of Autobots and humans, all of them still reeling from the revelation that the Decepticon's second-in-command was coming to Earth even as they speak. After a… minor freak-out from the students, which the adults managed to get back under control, their next course of action was to find out just what they were in for, and Kyoka's question was close enough to that to count. "Well, that all depends." Sideswipe spoke up. "…What does "boned" mean?"

The Earphone Jack user facepalmed as the other humans all groaned at the question. "Ugh, it MEANS how screwed are we? Ya know, "doomed", "toast", "up shit creek without a paddle"?"

"Ah, okay, that makes a lot more sense." Sunstreaker nodded. "…Aside from that last one."

"We are not doomed yet, Kyoka." Optimus assured. "While the Decepticons coming to Earth with Starscream leading them is disconcerting, we should still be thankful that the Vehicons made no mention of Megatron." He craned his head down to the teens as he went on. "But more to the point, Starscream is still a very dangerous individual. After all, there is a reason he was appointed leader of the Seekers and second-in-command."

"His reputation is one of the worst on Cybertron." Windblade continued. "Right up there with the other Big Four Decepticons."

Izuku and the other teens were all visibly worried at what she said. "Th-The Big Four?"

Jazz gave them a nod. "Yep, there's Starscream, Megatron himself, and then Soundwave and Shockwave, the other two highest ranking Decepticon officers."

Bulkhead clenched a fist with his brow furrowed. "Those four are universally feared across Cybertron, with all of them leading some of the biggest battles in the war's history." However, he broke out into a smirk soon after. "Heh, though to be fair, Screamer's a lot less feared than the other three. He may be dangerous, but he's a bit of a perfectionist that gets VERY emotional if things don't go his way."

"Ipso facto, he whines when he doesn't get what he wants." Arcee said smugly.

The teens got a small laugh out of that before Optimus reentered the conversation. "But make no mistake, while Starscream is very flawed, he is still not an enemy to take lightly. Should he show himself down here, you children are not to be within his line of sight at all. Is that understood?"

Tenya saluted immediately. "Of course, Optimus Prime! After today, we wouldn't dream of intentionally putting ourselves in the line of fire."

Eijiro and Denki both gave thumbs up. "Yeah, you bet." the spikey redhead agreed. "If Starscream shows up, we'll make sure to let you guys handle him."

"While we watch YOU beat the tar outta him from the sidelines!" Mina said as she punched the air, causing some of the Autobots to laugh as well.

Ochako tapped her fingers together sheepishly. "So, um… now what?"

"Hm? What's wrong, Ochako?" Strongarm asked.

"Well, it's just that in all this excitement, we missed our trains back home, so—"

"AH! Oh no, I was supposed to be home by now!" Mina said as she scrambled for her cell phone. "Please don't be mad, please don't be mad!" As if on cue, Eijiro, Denki and Tenya all began pulling out their cellphones as well, and before anyone knew it, they began vigorously typing away on them in a panic.

This left the Autobots to stare on in confusion while Izuku, Kyoka, Momo, Mei and the adults watched from the sidelines. "Uh… okay, I'm lost." Sideswiped admitted. "What's everyone so worried about?"

"Oh, they're just contacting their parents." All Might explained. "After all, it's always best to keep them informed of their safety at all times!"

Optimus put a finger to his chin, pondering on that. "Ah, yes, of course. Organic beings do tend to live in family groups. I hadn't considered that." His optics trailed down to Agent Fowler once more before kneeling down to his level. "Agent Fowler, in light of the information regarding Starscream, I would appreciate if you would keep us informed of any strange happenings going on anywhere in the world." He shook his head to drive his point home. "One never knows where a Decepticon attack could happen, especially if it's being led by Starscream."

"Understood, Prime." Fowler nodded back. "But remember, no matter what happens, it's important that we keep it all covert. I ain't about to have you fightin' some Con on a highway in the middle of the day."

"Ah, don't worry, Agent F." Jazz grinned. "We're professionals! It won't happen again, I can promise ya that."

"Hm, we'll see." Fowler hummed. The special agent set his attention over to Aizawa and Nezu, giving the two U.A. teachers a nod. "Eraser Head, Mr. Nezu, if you both are ready, I'll bring you both back to the school."

Nezu returned the gesture with a grin. "Of course, William, we'd appreciate that."

However, Aizawa raised his one good hand. "If I may, I want to have a little chat with my students first…" He walked over to the group of teenagers, who were now off their phones. "So, I assume you all got in touch with your parents?"

"Yep, and we told them that we were just hanging out with friends after school." Denki said with a swipe of his hand. "No mention of giant robots or any sort of highway chases."

"Good, now I want to make something perfectly clear, especially to the five of you." Aizawa's gaze narrowed toward Tenya, Ochako, Eijiro, Denki and Mina, the latter four all flinching in fear. "I already said this to the other three, but just because you're all a part of this now, don't think any of you will be receiving any special treatment because of it. "You're all still a part of MY class, which means if you break any rules, you'll receive an equal amount of punishment, secret or not. Is that understood?"

"YES, SIR!" echoed the terrified voices of the classmates.

Tenya, however, was dutiful as always with a salute. "Crystal clear, Mr. Aizawa! We will be sure to be on our best behavior, both in class AND with the Autobots."

Aizawa hummed and gave one last nod. "Hm, good. Glad you all understand. I'll see you all tomorrow."

Nezu gave the students a wave goodbye as he, Aizawa and Fowler all headed to the helicopter. "And remember; make sure you all keep up on your training and your studies! The Sports Festival is only two weeks away, so be sure to give it your all!"

Momo bowed respectfully toward the three as they departed. "We will! Thank you, Principal Nezu." Before long, the helicopter had started back up and was airborne within moments, the rotor blades spinning rapidly as it flew over the Autobot base and off into the distance.

"Well, I'm very happy we could get all of that settled." All Might said as he placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "As for me, I must be off. But rest assured that your hero training course tomorrow will be something to look forward to!" Izuku smiled back up to him as the Number One Hero gave a thumbs up to the others. "And make sure to not give the Autobots too much trouble, you hear?"

"Loud and clear, All Might, sir." Ochako beamed. "We'll be as behaved as we can be!"

"AHAHA! That's the spirit!" All Might said before giving them a farewell salute. "See you all in the morning! And remember, when it comes to training, give it a…" FWOOM! With a mighty pump of his legs, All Might sent himself rocketing up into the sky, all while belting out at the top of his lungs; "PLUS ULTRA!"

As the Symbol of Peace flew off into the afternoon sky, the remaining Autobots and teenagers all stood in silence for a moment before Red Alert stepped forward. "Well, now that that's been dealt with, I think it's time to crack down on finishing the base's defenses." He craned his head up to his leader. "Optimus, has the signal scrambler been prepped?"

"Indeed, Red Alert." Optimus pointed to the trailer that was hanging out near the side of the building. "The technicians at Sector Seven set it up and I retrieved it from their headquarters just this morning."

"Ah, thank you." Red Alert stepped over to the trailer and opened its doors, pulling out a rather large device that was somewhat rounded with a red, glowing part in the middle. "Hm, I'll admit, not bad for human technology."

However, much to his surprise, Mei somehow managed to pop up over his shoulder, her eyes wide with intrigue as she stared at the device. "Ooooh! A signal scrambler?!"

"Gah!" Red Alert jumped, almost dropping the scrambler in the process. He sighed before sneering slightly at the pinkette in annoyance. "Do NOT do that… ever again."

"Ah, c'mon, ya can't just expect me to NOT be interested in technology." Mei said as she crawled up and sat on Red Alert's shoulder. "Especially when it's something THIS advanced. I don't think anything like this is even on the standard hero market." She zoomed in on the scrambler device with her Quirk, her interest growing by the minute. "This baby just SCREAMS "secret government tech". I'm guessing it does exactly what it's supposed to?"

"Yes, it does… supposedly." Red Alert said as he slung the device under his left arm, leaving his right hand free. "When I set it up, it'll help keep our location even more hidden by scrambling any communications that go to and from the base. That way, the Decepticons won't be able to detect them and trace them back to us."

Mei whipped her head around to Red, giving him a big grin. "Sweet! Want me to help ya set it—UP!"

Without warning, Red Alert picked Mei up off his shoulder, setting her down near his feet. "No. I am perfectly capable of setting it up myself, thank you." He turned around and began heading back into the base. "I suggest that you all think about heading back home. We're going to be very busy all night getting the base's security finalized."

As the medic walked away, Mina pouted and furrowed her brow toward him. "Wow, just how much of a jerk can ya be?"

"Yeah, but that's pretty much how Red is most of the time." Sunstreaker shrugged. "They guy's got a rod up his crankshaft like ya wouldn't believe."

"I HEARD that!" Red Alert barked, making Sunstreaker flinch.

Izuku sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I do think we should probably get going."

"WHAT?!" Mina zipped right over to Izuku and grasped him by the shoulders, getting right up in in his face. "Midoriya, what are you TALKING about?! We are living out one of my biggest dreams in the middle of Bot-swana and you're saying we need to go HOME?!"

Kyoka was about to intervene, but much to her surprise, Izuku gently, if shakily, reached up and took Mina's hands off of him. "A-Ashido, I can understand where you're coming from, really. And I get that you're excited, b-but Red Alert has a point. We can't just be wandering around the base and getting underfoot when there's work they need to do." He offered her a sympathetic grin and a shrug. "But hey, there's still always tomorrow, then we can have the whole afternoon to hang out here."

Mina hummed in thought, considering Izuku's words before returning the smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Midoriya."

"Yeah!" Eijiro pumped an eager fist. "And maybe then we can get down to some serious training!"

Sideswipe gave him two thumbs up. "You know it, dude! We're gonna make sure you guys go HARD at it, so be ready!"

"Indeed." Optimus agreed. "But for now, I believe it's time we send you all home. And to make things easier and to insure your safety, each of you will have an escort…" He set his optics over to Bulkhead first. "Bulkhead, you will accompany Mina to her home."

That earned a joyous laugh from Mina. "Oh-ho, YES! I am SO there!"

"And be sure to maintain covert surveillance in vehicle mode."

Bulkhead nodded at Prime's order. "Curbside duty, got it." He knelt down to Mina and asked; "You ready for this?"

"Uh, HECK YEAH!" At Mina's approval, Bulkhead quickly converted into his Hummer H2 pickup truck mode, and instantly, the pink girl's yellow eyes widened in awe. "AH! Oh. My. GOD! Your alt mode is freaking SWEET!"

"Glad you think so." Bulkhead pulled around her and opened his passenger side door. "Now, hop in and give me some directions. Pretty sure I have a built in GPS somewhere." Mina laughed and climbed into the passenger seat… only to see that the driver's seat was still empty. She was about to speak up, but Bulkhead beat her to the punch. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm… still working on my holoform."

Prime then went to the twins next. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, you will be taking Eijiro and Denki respectively."

"Can do, Prime." Sunstreaker replied before shifting into his own vehicle mode, which Sideswipe followed suit with soon after. And, as soon as they converted, Eijiro and Denki were both left slack-jawed at the near-identical Lamborghini Countaches before them. Sunstreaker decided to take the moment in stride. "Guys, close your oral cavities."

"Heh, yeah, ya never know what could lay eggs in there." Sideswipe snarked.

Eijiro's hand went up and slapped his own cheek, which he then did the same for Denki. "Ah! Sorry!"

"GAH! Dude, the heck?!" Denki leered at his friend while rubbing his cheek. "Ugh, whatever, we're riding home in sentient SPORTS CARS! This is too awesome!"

As the duo climbed into the twins, Prime's optics shifted over to the police cadet. "And finally, Strongarm, you will escort Tenya and Ochako home."

"Of course, Optimus." Strongarm saluted before eyeing the aforementioned humans. "But I think a more appropriate term would be…" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Within seconds, Strongarm had transformed into her Jeep Gladiator police truck mode, the light bar on top already flashing red and blue. "A police escort."

Ochako gasped and pumped her arms up and down excitedly. "AH! I always wanted to right in a police car! This will be so cool!"

Tenya bowed politely to Strongarm with a hand on his chest. "We are very grateful to you for bringing us home, Strongarm, thank you."

"Think nothing of it. And besides, it gives me the opportunity to test out THIS lady." Without warning, a green light began flashing in Strongarm's driver-side seat… and before long, a new figure could be seen sitting in it.

The door opened and a young woman dressed in a blue police uniform stepped out, complete with a black tie and a blue and black police cap with a gold badge on it. Her skin tone had a deep tan to it and her hair was short and dark, her blue eyes sticking out prominently. Though what had to be the most notable part about her was her overall strong, athletic build, though if the stunned expressions on all the humans were anything to go by, it was clear that they all liked it. The new holofrom gave a salute as she looked down to her two charges. "Cadet Stella Armstrong, at your service!"

"…EEEEEEE!" Ochako squealed in delight. "Strongarm, you look so cool!"

"That… IS you, correct?" Tenya asked. "I'm still uncertain with how these "holoforms" work."

"Well, I'd be happy to give you an explanation…" "Stella" said before snapping her fingers and making all of her doors open. "On the way home. Climb in, guys!"

With that, Ochako and Tenya climbed in and the Autobots all started their engines, prompting Prime to crane his head over to Arcee and Bumblebee. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you two who you are taking."

"Hmhm, nope, we know the drill." Arcee affirmed before she and Bee transformed into their vehicle modes, along with their own holoforms appearing as well. "C'mon guys, let's get you all back home!"

"Of course, Arcee, we'll be right there." Momo assured before giving a quick wave up to Windblade. "We're still on for our training tomorrow, right Windblade?"

"Yes, so be ready." Windblade knelt down and pointed to the raven-haired girl. "I want to make sure I see your creative side and what you can come up with, alright?"

Momo raised a fist with a determined nod. "Right! I'll see you then."

Kyoka put a hand to her hip and winked up to Jazz with a thumbs-up. "And Jazz, hope you haven't forgotten our jam session!"

"Ha! You fo' real?" Jazz lowered a fist and bumped it against Kyoka's. "I ain't skippin' out on ya, if that's what you're thinkin'. Be ready to make some noise tomorrow, girl!"

As everyone was saying their goodbyes, though, Izuku gasped and whipped his head up toward Optimus. "W-Wait, Optimus, wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about with my training?"

However, Prime simply gave him a wave. "Don't worry about it now, Izuku. We will discuss it tomorrow, I promise. For now, return home and get some rest. Believe me, you're all going to need as much as possible for the next two weeks to come."

"…Alright, sounds good." Izuku smiled, though a part of his brain couldn't help but stick to that point. 'Why would Prime want to talk to ME specifically about my training? …Hah, patience, Izuku, you'll find out later.' As he was about to enter Bumblebee though, he felt Kyoka's arm rub against his, the two almost about to climb in at the same time. The two gasped before Izuku lowered his head politely. "O-Oh, sorry Kyoka, please go ahead."

"Oh, ha, nah, it's alright." Kyoka waved off with a blush. "You were totally about to head in first, you—"

"Please, I insist." Izuku asserted, holding the door open while gesturing inside. "L-Ladies first, after all."

Kyoka blinked in surprise before grinning to the greenette, giving him a pat on the arm as she climbed in. "Hm, such a gentleman."

That compliment left Izuku with the brightest blush and one of the goofiest smiles ever. He had to practically restrain his face as he climbed in, though unfortunately for him, Momo AND Mei had taken notice. The raven-haired girl in particular was wearing a sly smirk at the scene. "Hehehe, okay, something HAS to be done about all this."

"Indeed." Mei agreed. "…About what again, exactly?"

Momo deadpanned and slapped her forehead as Sadie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, this is gonna be interesting. Alright guys, let's roll out!" With that, all of the Autobots took their human charges back on the road to take them home, leaving Optimus, Windblade and Jazz outside to ponder on everything that happened this afternoon.

"So… how're we going to deal with Starscream?" Windblade inquired.

Jazz scoffed at that. "Heh, I'm honestly more worried about the Con's he's gonna bring WITH him. You know Megatron must've loaded him up with some good soldiers."

Optimus moved his sights skyward. "Yes, that thought IS disconcerting…" He narrowed his optics and sighed. "We can only hope that we have sufficient enough numbers and firepower to handle them."

…..

The next day, high above the Earth's atmosphere, within the dark recesses of space, there wasn't much to see besides the odd satellite sent up into the planet's orbit, or the moon that revolved around it. The blue sphere floating in the immense mass of space was relatively small in comparison to other planets, even ones in its own solar system, yet somehow… THIS of all places was where the Autobots had wound up, after all these solar cycles of hiding. This is what a certain tall, dark, winged figure had thought to himself as he walked onto the bridge of his ship, the Darksyde, as it drew ever closer to the Earth.

As he approached the large window pane that gave them a clear view of the planet, he stepped into the light, revealing his appearance in full. He was a primarily light grey bot with several red and blue parts strewn across his body, including red pectorals and waste armor, along with blue armor plating on his forearms and feet. He also had two blue tail-fin like structures on his ankles as well as a pair of tall, red air-intakes that were propped up on either shoulder near his head. His pointed wings had red and white stripes painted along their edges and there was even some blue paint on his shins. And to top things off, the cockpit of his vehicle mode could be seen in the center of his chest, with two black fans in the center of his pecs.

The bot's helm was angular in shape and painted black, his face painted a sterling silver with a pointed chin. He also literally wore his weapons on his sleeve as two long guns were mounted on either shoulder, the tips ending right above his hands. "So… THIS is where you have been hiding." the mech whispered in a sinister voice. "It would seem that following Shatter and Dropkick's life signatures here wasn't a fruitless endeavor after all."

"Hmph, real shame that they had to bite the dust before we got here." Another voice, this one deeper and more gravelly, piped up from behind. Still standing in the shadows was a far shorter mech, his red eyes shining through the darkness. "I told ya we should've gone to hyperspeed, Starscream."

Starscream's lips curled into a snarl as he spun around to his subordinate. "And I told YOU that it would've been a waste of energon, Barricade!"

A scoff came from the shorter bot as he stepped into the light. He came up to Starscream's midsection and sported a primarily black color scheme, with a light lavender serving as his secondary on his thighs, upper arms, hands and midsection. The front of his vehicle mode was his chest and the doors formed a pair of wings, which had white paint on them along with some Cybertronian writing. His front tires were on the back of his shoulders while the rear ones were on his ankles, and a pair of silver guns were attached near either side of his head. His black helm was rounded near the top but had an angular chin, with a forehead crest that had dark purple chevron wings sticking out either side on his forehead. His face was a deep gold color, which helped it stick out.

Barricade narrowed his optics back at Starscream and crossed his arms. "Hey, considering we're over a planet that's BOUND to have energon on it, I don't exactly see an issue with splurging a bit if it meant getting some of our best operatives out a' there safely."

"Oh please." Starscream waved off the security officer. "Shatter and Dropkick were dedicated Decepticons who knew the costs that came with their position. In any case, even if we HAD used the hyperdrive, I doubt it would've mattered."

"…Really? And it had nothing to do with the fact that they had a transmitter on them that could send a signal to Cybertron to contact Lord Megatron and instantly send an army here, would it?" Barricade asked skeptically.

Starscream rolled his optics at that. "Oh please, I could contact Lord Megatron on THIS computer at any time." He gestured to a nearby console to emphasize his point. "Besides, it's not like it's OUR fault that they chose to not travel with an attack ship, otherwise they would've been able to do the same. They actively CHOSE to make things harder for themselves."

"Heh, yeah, right. Just keep tellin' yourself that, Screamer." The two mechs perked their heads up at the arrival of a feminine voice, one that carried with it a lot of confidence and was dripping in sarcasm.

Entering the room was a female Decepticon with a dark green color scheme, with some tan details throughout, mainly on the chest where her blue cockpit was. Her legs were made up of the back of her alt mode, which was made apparent by the back rotors in her ankles. She also had orange painted forearms and feet, along with some on her waist as well, which matched the four rotors that hung down from her back. Her helm was somewhat bullet-shaped and had an orange head crest and V-shaped head piece settled on her forehead, and her eyes gleaming a bright yellow as her black lips turned up into a smirk. "After all, making excuses is what you're good at."

Barricade couldn't help but smile as the femme came sauntering in. "Swift, glad you could join the party."

"Ugh, yes, indeed." Starscream rolled his eyes. "Just what I needed; more SASS."

"Hey, don't blame me just because you're easy to make fun of." Swift countered with a laugh. "Seriously, it's not that hard." Starscream growled and reared his shaking fist back in a threatening manner, though Swift seemed to be nonplussed by the action. "Oh, what, you gonna take your aggression out on a femme?" At that moment, her hands began to light up with glowing green power, which lit up her face as her smirk increased. "Because I'm game."

"I—I, guh… AUGH!" Starscream stomped away in frustration. "Whatever, it matters not." His manic grin returned as he stepped back toward the window pane, his optics trained toward the Earth. "The point is, we have made it to where the Autobots are hiding, and now is the perfect opportunity to strike! Contact the Vehicons and tell them to keep pursuing the Autobots with utmost prejudice!"

Barricade coughed into his hand and muttered; "Uh, yeah, about that…" Starscream slowly turned around, giving his subordinate a disapproving and irritated glare. "We've recently just lost all six Vehicons' signals."

"WHAT?!"

"I-It's the truth, Commander Starscream." The Decepticon's second in command whirled around to another Vehicon, one of the many who were manning all of the consoles on the bridge. "We lost them about a mega-cycle ago and—" PEWPEWPEW! "GYAAAAAAH!" An intense violet-colored blast struck the Vehicon square in the chest, nullifying all of his systems and making him crash to the floor, unconscious.

One of Starscream's Null Rays smoked as he grumbled, all while Swift crossed her arms and rolled her optics. "Oh hey, a rare moment of restraint. Ya didn't KILL one of them this time."

"We lose more soldiers that way." Barricade deadpanned.

"SILENCE!" Starscream bellowed before pointing to Barricade again. "Do we have visuals from their optics?"

"Of course, I was just about to bring them up…" Barricade walked over to another console at the very end of the bridge and pressed a button, bringing up several different screens that showed the Vehicons' point-of-views, revealing which Autobots ended them in the first place. "From this, we can confirm that Arcee, Windblade, Jazz… and B-127 are on the planet."

Starscream and Swift were both taken aback by the little yellow bot's presence, to say the least. "B-127?! The scout? I gave Redwing an EXACT order to pursue and offline him eons ago!"

Swift's smirk returned as she crossed her arms. "And would ya look at how that turned out?" She received a sneer from the Air Commander, who at this point was visibly quaking. "Hey, I'm just sayin' if you're gonna send a Con to make a hit, send one that can get the job done right."

"Ugh, fantastic." Starscream pinched the bridge of his nose before noticing something… odd. He set his sights onto one of the screens and pointed at it. "Enlarge that one, right there." Barricade executed the order and now the one Vehicon's point-of-view took up the entire screen, which now showed it chasing down nine young humans. "Those must be the organics they said the Autobots were with."

The three continued to watch until the Vehicon picked up two females, one that had bright pink skin and horns on her head. And then, much to the trio's surprise, the girl screamed and raised her hands up to the Vehicon's face, blasting it with corrosive acid that took out one of its optics. "Woah! What was that?!" Swift asked.

"Where did that acid come from?" Barricade added.

"Ze fraulien's hands, zat's vhere." Everyone in the room all spun around and saw two more Decepticons enter, one that was about Swift's height while the other… was utterly MASSIVE. They were both cast in shadow but had red glowing parts on them that made them visible, even in the darkness. "Very interesting, to be sure…"

The shorter Decepticon stepped forward, revealing himself to be a primarily black bot with red detailing on the center of his chest and top of his helm. He also had red plating on the sides of his lower legs and around the lights that were on his shoulders, along with two red pointed pieces near his collar. The front wheels of his alt mode were in his shoulders while the back ones were inside his calves, while the front of his alt mode formed his chest. He had two small guns sticking up from his backpack while a long, black piece of vinyl hung down from his waist, resembling a sort-of lab coat. His helm was also quite pointy with air intakes on either side, while his face was covered by a guard that came in two parts; a plate that covered his mouth and a part that resembled a chin, both connected by two pieces of red metal.

The other, bigger Decepticon was primarily green with rectangular shoulders and big arms with two black gun-implements on them. The backs of his hands were green while his fingers were painted blue, and a pair of large cannon barrels stuck up out of his back. His chest piece and waist armor were blue as well, which managed to create the illusion of a face in his torso thanks to the two large yellow lights in his pectorals that looked like eyes and a smaller set of lights that resembled nostrils. His legs were black and had green kneecaps, with treads all wrapped up in his calves. His helm was mainly green with a curved, blue chevron on his forehead.

Looking at the larger Con's face though, he seemed to be entertained as he watched the Vehicon on screen get lifted up into the air thanks to the brown-haired girl simply touching him. "BAHAHAHA!" he laughed in a deep, booming voice, accompanied by a heavy Russian accent. "Vehicon is being played for fool by itsy-bitsy organics!"

"Indeed, mein freund." The shorter con concurred in a German accent, tapping his chin with a sharp finger. "Quite ze curious case, to be sure. It vould seem zat the inhabitants of zis planet have extraordinary abilities zat far exceed any expectations regarding organic species…"

Starscream paused the footage and glanced back to welcome the two. "Ah, Flatline. So good of you to join us, doctor…" His optics shifted up to the larger Decepticon in trepidation. "Ugh, and I see you have brought your dim body guard as well."

The big Decepticon was quick to take offense to that as he bent down to meet Starscream face-to-face. "What you say, tiny Screamer?! You insult Blastwave?!" He slammed his fist into his huge palm. "Because if you did, Blastwave will promise you MUCH pain and deep hurting!"

"Blastwave, please, no need to start a scene." Flatline pressed a hand to his comrade's shoulder, pushing him away from Starscream. …Though that didn't stop him from glaring at the second-in-command either. "After all, zis is not zhe place for insults or threats, correct?"

Starscream placed a hand over his chest with a slight smirk. "Ahem, yes, yes of course. Please forgive me, but it has been a stressful decacycle…" He heard Blastwave grumble as he backed off before going back to Flatline. "In any case, my good doctor, while the powers of these organics are… unexpected, I doubt that they are of any threat to us. After all, they are but weak flesh creatures at the end of the day."

Flatline narrowed his optics in thought. "You zhink so, hm? Barricade, proceed vith ze footage." The officer shrugged and let the Vehicon footage continue… where they all bore witness to a child with engines in his legs speeding under the Vehicon with another girl on his back. She appeared to have extendable earlobes with metal pieces on their tips which struck the Vehicon in his knee joints, bringing him down so that two other human males could continue the onslaught.

And then, everyone's jaws dropped as they watched one boy mercilessly punch away the rest of the Vehicon's faceplate before the other shocked its head so much that it blew up, finally cutting off the footage. There was a long, drawn-out silence before Barricade muttered; "…Holy frag."

"Primus… those kids are ruthless." Swift said before her smile returned. "I kinda like it!"

"This… this is IMPOSSIBLE!" Starscream threw his hands up into the air. "Organics are inferior compared to us! We are made of METAL! How could they possibly be able to defeat our kind?!"

Blastwave guffawed some more and pointed to Starscream. "HahaHA! Starscream whines like little baby! He refuses to admit that itsy-bitsy humans have power enough to fall Vehicon!"

"While I vill say zat zhings could have been different if one of US had been zhere, Blastwave has a point, Starscream." Flatline concurred. "Even you must admit zat zhese children have accomplished something truly astonishing." He stepped up to another console and began typing in commands. "Perhaps it vould be prudent to investigate ze planet before ve zhink of setting foot down zere."

Starscream grit his teeth and made for the panel himself. "Now wait just a moment, I am the leader of this mission, so what gives YOU the right to—"

"STARSCREAM!" Everyone froze and spun around toward the bridge entrance, where two tall figures were standing. Both of them were about Starscream's height and were obscured by shadows… at least partially. Their lower halves could be seen in the light, and while one was clearly defined… the other wasn't so. The one who spoke seemed to be a primarily black bot with purple and silver detailing on his legs, particularly on his feet, which were entirely purple. His red visor shined in the shadows, and it was vaguely shaped like a pair of shades. His silhouette also suggested he had a large wing on his back painted in silver, though other than that, not much else of him could be seen. He also had a low voice that resonated throughout the ship. "You're the CO-leader of this mission. Anddon't you forget that."

Starscream rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Ah, General Unicronus… so glad you could FINALLY join us. I assume that you and Makeshift saw the whole thing?"

"We did." The undefined bot on the right said. He was vaguely humanoid in shape, but otherwise, his body seemed to be constantly shifting. One second, he was more angular, the next, he was smooth, and then a second later, he was pointy. The only part that could be made out clearly were his eyes, which gleamed yellow. "And I must say, it's unexpected."

Unicronus craned his head over to Flatline and nodded to him. "Flatline, launch the probe. This planet's in need of proper examination."

Flatline gave a polite bow while also giving an amused chortle. "Hmhm, you are speaking my language, Herr general."

The shadowy Decepticon nodded before giving an order to one of the Vehicons. "Bring the Darksyde around to the moon and land there. Stay on the dark side so that the planet doesn't detect us." He pointed to another Vehicon and ordered; "And get Lord Megatron on the horn right now. He needs to hear 'bout this."

"Now wait just a moment!" Starscream rebutted. "Unicronus, this is all completely unnecessary! We can take this planet without—urk!"

Unicronus grabbed Starscream by the collar and brought him up close to his face. "You disrespectin' the Main Mech, Screamer?! Because I can get ya court marshalled for that!"

Starscream brought his arm up and pointed his Null Ray at Unicronus' head. "I believe that you're forgetting that I STILL outrank you, general. And as commander, I care NOT if you're Megatron's little pet project! I can still—"

"Woah, woah, woah, boys!" Swift got herself between the two and separated them, her hands glowing green again to do so. "Let's not get out of hand here, huh? Megatron put the TWO of you in charge of this ship for a reason, right? So, instead of being at each other's throats and acting like a couple of protoforms, let's focus on taking down the Autobots first and foremost, huh? Whaddya say?"

Starscream and Unicronus glared at one another before turning away, both clearly aggravated. "Fine." they echoed.

"Ze probe has been launched." Flatline announced. Through the window pane, they watched as the pod containing the probe was fired off toward the Earth, entering its atmosphere within a few cycles before breaking off and launching the pod from there. Before long, it found the nearest city and immediately, the Decepticons could see some action going down in its streets. "…Was ist das?!"

Flatline's reaction was justified as they all saw a gigantic muck monster attacking the city, its hide made of dirt and scum with a giant maw going way down past his head. At the same time, it was being attacked by a man in a blue, armored suit with several parts of him that were on fire, including most of his face. He seemed to have a permanent scowl etched on his features, even as he blasted a pillar of fire at the muck monster, making it crash into a building. From there, several more spandex-wearing organics joined in, including a female in a cream and purple body suit who was just as big as the muck monster. She gave it a hard punch and sent it falling down… which just so happened to send it crashing right into the probe, crushing it effortlessly.

"…What kinda world did we find?" Barricade asked.

"Blastwave will be honest, he was not expecting to see that." The largest Decepticon admitted.

Unicronus scratched his chin. "Yeah, neither was I. Looks like we might've come across a pretty interesting planet."

But before the conversation could continue, one of the Vehicons piped up. "General Unicronus! We've established a stable connection with Cybertron. They are requesting to be put through!"

"Good, everyone, look sharp." Unicronus and Starscream took center stage as the others gathered around, preparing themselves for who they were about to be met with on the screen. The holographic display flickered a bit before showing an image of a dimly lit room, in which stood two rather intimidating figures who could barely be seen.

…Or more accurately, one standing figure and one sitting in a large throne in the center of the screen. The bot to the right of the throne didn't have two optics, only a single yellow one in the center of his head with seemingly no mouth to speak of. He also appeared to have a laser weapon on his left wrist instead of a hand, with a hose attached to his arm that connected to his backpack.

Sitting in the throne, meanwhile, was a large mech who had a bucket-shaped helmet and a scowl that could make that Flame Hero jealous. He appeared to be pretty strongly built, with broad shoulders and am angular barrel chest. And what's more, on his right arm was a massive cannon, one that no doubt struck fear into the sparks of many a Cybertronian. He narrowed his eyes at the crew of Decepticons through the screen and spoke in a low, metallic voice. "Starscream, Unicronus… report."

The Decepticons all bowed in respect to their leader before Starscream spoke up. "Lord Megatron, it pleases me to inform you that we have successfully located a group of renegade Autobots on a small, organic planet. One that is in a solar system far from Cybertron."

"I can see that." Megatron said as he rose from his throne, stepping into the light while the other bot stood back. His details fully revealed, Megatron was a metallic grey Decepticon with some red strewn about on his midsection and his elbow joints, with black armor on his waist, legs and backpack. Said legs and backpack also had treads in them, which was a dead giveaway for his alt mode. He also had a pointed brow above his optics, seemingly giving him a permanent glare. "I have your coordinates up on my display here… and if I am not mistaken, it is a planet that we have observed before. Shockwave?"

"Indeed, my lord." The bot with the single optic spoke up, revealing himself to be a mostly purple mech with a hexagonal-shaped head that had two lighter purple fins on either side of it. "This is the exact same planet that I gained… inspiration from when rebuilding the Lightning Strike Coalition Force with their new alternate forms."

Starscream shuddered as the memory returned to him. "Ugh, don't remind me of those beasts. They caused enough trouble for us in the Sea of Rust."

Unicronus typed in a command, bringing up the footage that the probe had sent them. "As you can see, my Lord, this planet isn't home to beasts like that anymore. Instead, it looks like a bunch of superpowered organic beings inhabit the planet, and for some reason, they're in conflict with one another."

"Hm, interesting…" Megatron murmured as he watched the footage, a nefarious smirk making its way to his metal lips. "Perhaps this could be something we can take advantage of..."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Unicronus agreed as he typed in another command, bringing up the Vehicon footage. "Though that said, I also think we should take things carefully, too. A few younglings managed to work together to bring down one of our troops using their powers, and lemme tell ya… they were ruthless."

"What?!" Megatron slammed his fist against the console he was at, causing his image to become staticky for a moment. "You cannot be…" But once he saw the footage for himself, it only confirmed what his general was saying, causing him to sneer in disgust. "Mere organic beings… DESTROYING a Cybertronian?!"

"And in such a cruel manner as well." Shockwave pointed out, though he also raised his hand. "But if I may be so bold, my master, these younglings only took down a single Vehicon. Logically, if any of our superior troops were to be sent down, I'm certain the outcome would be different."

"Would it, Shockwave?" Megatron asked with narrowed optics. "Because if mere children with these abilities could take down a SINGLE Vehicon, who is to say that any of the more experienced warriors of this planet would not hesitate to fight against us? Especially if the Autobots have made allies with them." Megatron balled his fist and narrowed his optics. "We must approach this situation with caution, otherwise the Autobots will have a whole planet of super-powered beings against us. Ones whose full capabilities are still unknown to us."

"Vell zen, vhat do suggest ve do, Lord Megatron?" Flatline asked.

Megatron sighed and balled his fists. "As much as it detests me to say this, doctor, I would say the next course of action is for you all take on disguises to hide yourselves from the human eye." He pointed right to them through the screen. "It is imperative that we keep our existence a secret from the humans until we know EXACTLY what the extent of their powers can be, so until then, keep yourselves hidden and be sure to study exactly what they are capable of."

Almost immediately after hearing this, though, Starscream was quick to protest. "W-WHAT?! Lord Megatron, surely you cannot be serious! These organic creatures are NOTHING to us! Crushing them under our heels would be as simple as—"

"SILENCE!" Megatron bellowed, shutting Starscream up without even trying. "Starscream, it is that exact mindset that has led so many a Decepticon to their doom in the past. To underestimate one's enemy can lead to a devastating defeat. So, until I say otherwise, you are to remain robots in disguise…" The Decepticon leader leaned closer to the screen to make sure his point came across. "Am I clear?"

Starsceam grit his metal teeth in annoyance, but listened to Megatron nonetheless. "…Yes, my liege."

"Excellent." Megatron nodded before shifting his attention toward Unicronus. "And general, I'm sure I do not have to remind you of your position?"

Unicronus placed a hand over his chest and bowed to Megatron. "Of course, Lord Megatron. Stay out of sight of any Autobot and stay behind the scenes as a tactical coordinator. …As always."

However, Megatron couldn't help but hear the bitterness in his general's voice at that last part. "Patience, Unicronus. Soon, the time will come for you to enter the fray, and once you do…" His smirk increased at what he said next. "The Autobots will be left stunned, confused and betrayed as you enter the battlefield."

"…Heh, you're right, Lord Megatron." Unicronus snickered. "As usual."

Megatron nodded to him before setting his gaze onto the rest of the Darksyde's crew. "Be sure to keep in contact and inform us of what you learn about this super-human society while on this planet." He clenched his hand into a powerful fist and raised it. "For the more we know, the better I will be able to put together a selection of Decepticons to deal with them AND the Autobots for our eventual invasion of the planet. Is that understood?"

"Crystal clear, Lord Megatron." Swift said as she, Barricade and the others all gave a salute. "We'll keep you posted."

"Excellent… oh, and one more thing." He furrowed his metal brow as he made his point clear; "If by chance Optimus Prime is on the planet… inform me and leave him for when I arrive. I would like a few words with him." The Decepticons all nodded, to which Megatron hummed approvingly. "Good. Megatron, out."

And with that, the call ended, leaving all of the Decepticons to sigh in relief. "Primus, you just cannot relax with him around." Makeshift commented. "Even while on call."

Swift simply gave a shrug. "Well, whaddya expect from Lord Megatron? He's gotta keep up that intimidation factor…" She sent a snarky smile toward Starscream. "Something that I know YOU know far too well, right Starscream?"

"Do NOT test me right now, Swift!" Starscream barked with a swipe of his hand. "I am not in the mood!" He marched right up to the console and pressed another button, bringing up a still image of Earth onto the screen. "Bad enough that we cannot engage in an all-out assault on this puny planet, but the fact that we must HIDE ourselves from it's organic inhabitants is another!" He slammed his hands on the top of the console, frustration etched across his features. "I have no idea why Lord Megatron fears these organics, but—WOAH!"

Blastwave reached down and grabbed the Air Commander by the back of his neck, bringing him up to optic-level with a glare. "Starscream bite tongue! Lord Megatron fears NOTHING!" The Decepticon bruiser poked Starscream in the chest to drive his point home. "Megatron is one who conquered all of Cybertron under iron fist! And he make good point, too! Must know one's enemy before finding best way to CRUSH them!"

Flatline reached up and set a hand on Blastwave's arm. "Now, now mien fruend, I believe Starscream has had enough." Blastwave grumbled and put Starscream down, though Flatline raised an eyeridge at him. "Und as for you, Commander, I vould suggest we start following Megatron's orders und find some new disguises for ourselves."

"Well, most of us, anyway." Unicronus pipped up. "I ain't in no hurry to leave the ship."

"And I'll be abstaining from that as well." Makeshift added. "Don't need an alt mode when—"

"Yeah, yeah, you can transform into anything, we get it." Barricade waved off. "The rest of us will gladly head out into the field to pick up the slack."

Starscream sighed again and resigned to his fate. "Ugh, very well. Let us begin this charade, shall we?" He pressed a button and gave an order. "Computer, launch another probe to begin scanning the local lifeforms' transport vehicles." However… nothing happened, and Starscream's order went unacknowledged. He let out a grumble before pressing the button again, harder this time. "COMPUTER, I said launch another—"

But then, Swift tapped him on the shoulder. "Er, Starscream?"

"WHAT?! Swift, can't you see that I'm—"

"That was our only probe." Swift deadpanned.

Starscream's left optic twitched as all of the stress and frustration began building up inside his processor, making it overheat. "D'oh, I—guh, I… AGH! Whatever! I'll just go down there and scan an alternate form myself!" And with that, Starscream stormed out of the ship's main bridge, practically fuming from the air vents on the sides of his helmet as Swift laughed at his expense.

Flatline shook his head and groaned as he went to leave the room as well. "Vell, I vill go construct a new probe so zat the REST of us can acquire new alternate modes." He ushered Blastwave to follow him, which the large Decepticon dutifully did. "Come along, Blastwave. Let us hope zat Starscream doesn't jeopardize zis mission for us."

Barricade growled and proceeded toward the door as well. "Yeah, now that the doc mentions it, I should probably go WITH Starscream to make sure he doesn't do that."

"Barricade, as much as I hate Screamer's guts, even I know he wouldn't do that." Unicronus pointed out.

"I know… but I just wanna make sure." Barricade set his sights onto Swift with an inviting grin. "You comin' Swift? Always room for another."

But Swift just gave him a small wave. "Nah, but thanks anyway." She jerked her thumb up toward the holoscreen. "I wanna sit back and watch the fireworks if Screamer gets himself into hot water." She sent him a little goodbye wink. "But hey, if ya see any aircraft down there that'd fit my chassis, lemme know, okay?"

The Decepticon officer chuckled and sent her a salute back. "Yeah, you got it. Later." And with that, Barricade left the bridge as well, leaving only Swift, Makeshift and Unicronus behind.

It was then that Swift noticed that Unicronus had brought the Vehicon's optic footage back up, taking note of the still images of Arcee, Windblade, Jazz and B-127. Swift pursed her lips and eyed the general in suspicion. "Unicronus… you good?"

"…Yes, Swift." Unicronus acknowledged, though he didn't tear his optics away from the image. "I'm fine."

"Okay, just thought I'd ask." Swift sauntered up next to the black and purple bot, glancing up toward his face. "It's just that I noticed you seem oddly fixated on the Autobots here and… well, considering you—"

Without warning, Unicronus rounded about on Swift, his blood red visor locked onto her optics. "You think I can't get the job DONE, Swift?! That I might be soft just because of a few familiar faces?!" He stuck his finger out at her, dangerously close to her line of sight. "Because lemme tell ya, the Main Mech doesn't let ANYTHING get in the way of his mission! And that's a FACT, ya get it?!"

"Okay, okay, jeez, I get it!" Swift raised her hands up in surrender as she stepped away from Unicronus. "Sorry for insinuating anything." Unicronus huffed and went back to the screen, all while Swift stepped up next to Makeshift. "Sheesh, what crawled up his crankshaft and died?"

"Perhaps it's best to leave him be for now." Makeshift advised, ushering Swift to follow him to the door. "After all, I imagine he is frustrated with Megatron's order to keep staying hidden from the Autobots."

As the two left, Unicronus balled his hands into fists, his visor glowing intensely as he glared at the image B-127 in particular. "I have no idea how you survived, kid… but when I get my hands on you, you'll wish you had never seen me again."

…..

A/N: Well, that was certainly an eclectic line-up of villains that we've got so far! Now, if you're thinking; "Wow, I certainly wouldn't have predicted THOSE Decepticons to be our villains", then yeah, you'd be right on that. I wanted to be as unpredictable as possible with this line-up and I hope I was able to provide a few surprises! Now, let's go through these Cons one by one and see what we've got here…

Starscream: The de-facto Number 2 of the Decpticons, this version of Starscream is… honestly, not really based on any one PARTICULAR version of the character, but more like a hodgepodge of all the different Starscreams that've come before him. He's got his G1 counterpart's overall appearance and conniving, treacherous mannerisms, plus a bit of his Prime incarnation's hamminess and overall demeanor. Though in the process, I think I may have made him a bit more maniacal and more prone to being annoyed when his teammates bring him down… to the point that I think I can't stop thinking of Dr. Drakken from Kim Possible whenever I write him. Thusly, he shall forever now be voiced by John DiMaggio! I mean heck, wouldn't be the first time he's voice a (potentially) evil robot.

Barricade: A more familiar face who's recently become one of the more notable Decepticons in the higher ranks. I really like how The War for Cybertron Trilogy really cemented Barricade's status as such and gave him the Datsun mold to boot, so I decided to go with that interpretation. As such, he uses his Seige body here, and of course will be switching over to his Earthrise body once he scans his vehicle mode. As for a voice, I picture him being voiced by Steve Blum, who voiced him in the original War for Cybertron video game from 2010.

Swift: Alright, full disclosure, I'm not too familiar with old IDW continuity as I've never really read it. HOWEVER, I know about plenty of events, concepts and characters FROM it thanks to me scouring the TFWiki pretty much every day, and as such, there's plenty of designs and characters I've grown to be a fan of because of that. Of course there's Drift, Nautica and even Windblade herself, but the one that's stuck out to me the most HAS to be Swift. Ya don't see good helicopter bots every day, ya know… plus she's a girl Decepticon, and heck knows we need more of those. Granted, in the comics she's more of a Decpticon out of necessity while here, she's all FOR the Decepticon cause, but hey, not the first time where characterizations change across continuity. Heck, just look at Optimus and Megatron. Also, since I said that Starscream reminds me a lot of Dr. Drakken, I felt the need to give him a Shego-type foil, hence Swift's new green glowy power. And as such, I feel it only appropriate for her to be voiced by Nicole Sullivan.

Flatline: This… was a difficult decision for me. Ever since Transformers Prime, people have been NUTS about Knock Out, both because of his personality and the fact that he's one of the few Decepticon Medics we've ever seen. And don't get me wrong, I love the guy too and still DO plan on using him… but once again, Flatline is an IDW character that I wish got more attention, especially since he technically came even BEFORE Knock Out in one of the movieverse comics before jumping to G1. So, I stuck to my guns and now, we have Flatline! Also, I decided to give him a vinyl frock since he WILL transform into a hearse and those have vinyl tops most of the time. Also, I gave him a German accent, if you hadn't noticed. And this leads me to his voice actor; Robin Atkin Downes. If you've played Team Fortress 2, you probably know why this fits.

Blastwave: Now we're getting into the BIG departures of character. Blastwave was a one-and-done character from RID2015 who appeared in a single episode in a non-speaking yet prominent role… as an Autobot Bounty Hunter. As you can tell, in this universe, he's a Decepticon and can talk, so already that's a big difference. What can I say? I liked Blastwave's design and thought that Decepticons could use a munitions expert who's also a big beefy bruiser… with a Russian accent. Yeah, if Flatline is the Medic, then Blastwave is the Heavy. Gary Shultz voices him, no explanation needed.

Makeshift: …If you've seen Transformers Prime, I think you guys know why this Decepticon is here. And on the off chance you HAVEN'T watched TFP… Makeshift is pretty much the "Morph" of the team if you're familiar with the X-Men Animated series. He's voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson like in the original.

And finally, we have the enigma of a Decepticon known as Unicronus. Now, if you guys remember, General Unicronus was mentioned back during the fifteenth chapter of the first arc within the flashbacks in Bumblebee's head. He's a high-ranking Decepticon who's also a tactical officer, somehow able to predict the Autobot's movements in battle. Of course, there's a couple hints in THIS chapter that there's a bit more going on… but if you're SUPER familiar with Transformers lore, then you probably already know just what's up with Unicronus. Not gonna spoil the surprise here for those who DON'T know, though, so we'll have to wait as the story unfolds to see what his deal is.

Now you may be saying to yourselves; "Huh, the sides aren't totally even here comparing the Autobots with the Decepticons". Well, don't worry, because there's definitely more Cons that'll be introduced over the course of this story, along with several more Autobots as well. But with that said, now that our villains are established, it's time for them to start wreaking havoc!

And now, the Preview! As Starscream and Barricade take on Earth disguises in an efficient if brutal manner, the teens gather together for their first afternoon of training with the Autobots! As that's going on, though, a new cache of Energon is detected, which prompts Optimus to investigate along with Bumblebee… though he also takes the opportunity to bring Izuku along to discuss what he wants to talk about with him. Will Prime regret this decision? Find out next time as… Training Begins NOW! Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there and as always…

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!