A/N - And here is the first chapter of the main storyline. Now I want to note again that my OC was created long before I did a deeper dive into the Animated Universe. Also, I have no copy of The Allspark Almanac. So, while a name may be shared, she's a totally different bot. That, and c'mon, it's not like humans don't share similar names! Why can't Cybertronians?

…then again, the thought of there being two Hatchets is scary. *shudders*

Something I failed to mention in the prologue is that I am working on a research project over the summer. It was supposed to be finished by the end of April, but personal issues and issues with the samples (which my professor graciously understood were completely out of my control) meant I was spending more time than the other students involved in it. So… yay.

At least I'm not going to be bored this summer!

Anyways, onto the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, only my OC and parts of the plot (i.e. what's not in the canon). No stealy.

She stared at the holo screen before her, optics watching the 'history vid' while her processor was elsewhere. A grunt from behind made her turn in her seat. "It's a load of propaganda scrap." The old medibot scoffed, walking onto the bridge, passing the windows that showed the asteroid field outside. "You shouldn't be watching that old thing."

"I know." She answered, typing on the holo-keypad; the video vanished from the screen. "But there's nothing else to watch."

The old mech's engine huffed, coming up to her side. "You could watch the monitors." He suggested.

The femme shrugged. "Those were even more boring."

The medibot looked down at her, before ex-venting and lowering his old frame into the seat beside her. "Poor recharge again Prime?"

She snorted, opening her intake, only to instead get a ping on her . :Uh boss-bot? Bulky got his wrecking ball stuck again.:

The Prime groaned, wanting to give into the urge to bury her faceplate in her servos. :On my way.:

:Thanks- no Wheeljack we don't need-!:

The asteroid their ship was docked against shook.

:…oops.:

She gave into the urge as the medibot beside her cursed up a storm.

The past thousand stellar cycles had been hard. All but exiled from home, commanding a crew of washouts and essentially outcasts.

And Allspark help her if she didn't offline one of them!

:Wheeljack! What part of 'please don't use your inventions until Ratchet approved them' did your processor not compute?!: The femme's voice snarled through the comms, as in the void of space sound didn't exactly travel. Off to her right, the medibot was tending to their largest and smallest members, letting her dish out the reprimand. The scorched mech in front of her offered a sheepish grin. :In my defense Override, my gravity ray worked perfectly!:

:It exploded!:

:And got Bulkhead unstuck!: Wheeljack defended.

The femme wanted to throw her servos up in exasperation. :And just undid all our work undigging the Space Bridge!: Override Prime snapped, pointing to a spot behind him. :We spent two orns clearing that and you just undid it in a nano!:

It seemed to click with the once white, red, and green armoured inventor, the now giant pile of rubble behind him, along with the now partly buried space bridge. :Oh.:

Count down from one thousand, just like Rung taught you. Override reminded herself, trying to keep a level helm. Blowing up - verbally! - wouldn't do any good. :Yes. Oh.: She crossed her white plated arms across her white, blue and gold chassis, resisting the urge to tap a pede. :So please, if you feel so inclined… invent something to undo that!: With that she spun on her heel, transformed into her alt, and rolled away back to the ship. I swear I'm more a protoform caretaker than a captain!

Upon arriving at the Orion, the femme transformed back to root mode, and ex-vented, leaning her helm against the orange hull.

:Everything alright?:

Override lifted her helm, blue optics landing on the slim, gold and black mech who appeared beside her. :Optimal, Prowl.: She answered, gesturing back. :Wheeljack just set our work back. Again.: She ex-vented heavily, rubbing the gold crest on the front of her helm. :My apologies. We'll be delayed by at least three more orns than anticipated.:

The ninjabot frowned, looking over with his blue visor as the large green mech finally got up, while their resident medic tended to the yellow minibot. :So long as Bumblebee wasn't too badly damaged from having Bulkhead land on him.: The Prime added, seeing the expression. :Otherwise Ratchet will have to repair him, and Bumblebee will be stuck in the medbay, leaving us a bot down for a while.:

Prowl took a klik to think, before he ex-vented. :It's… alright. It was an unfortunate accident.:

Override let out a snort. :More like an unfortunate Wheeljack accident.:

After a nanoklik, the two bots shared a small chuckle at the inventor's expense. :Here. Help me bring some energon out. We'll need the extra energy if we want to speed things along.: The only femme said, turning and entering through the ship's airlock. The ninja followed behind her, glancing back to see their resident medic smack Wheeljack over the helm with a wrench and start a most definite long rant.

Shaking his helm, the slim mech turned and followed the Prime inside as yet another chase began, the scorched inventor fleeing for his spark from the raging medic.

Override grunted as she brought her pickaxe down on a boulder, taking another chip out of it. It was normally recharge time, but she'd been unable to power down, so instead she took the time to work on clearing the rubble. The movement was rhythmic, and despite being tedious it was somewhat calming. It allowed the femme to fall into a relaxed state, settling her processor.

The Prime raised her tool to bring it down again, only for a servo to grab her left arm. Resetting her optics, Override turned to see Ratchet standing there, looking worried. :You need to recharge Prime.: The medic stated, calmly but firmly.

The femme ex-vented, lowering the pickaxe. :I wish it were that easy Ratchet.: She said, sitting down. The medibot sat beside her, looking at the younger bot worried. :Those fluxes again?:

Override nodded. :Unfortunately.: She ex-vented. :Figured I'd take the time to do some work instead of just lying in berth.:

Ratchet shook his helm. :That's not healthy.: He said, and scanned the femme before she could protest. :Hmm… your frame is functioning at 37.496% capacity.: He read, before standing. :Up ya get. I can give you an additive that'll help you recharge. Unfortunately, it may not stop the flux from coming back.:

Override grumbled but let the shorter mech pull her to her pedes. :…Thanks, Ratchet.:

The medibot waved her off. :Just get a decent recharge. I'll deal with the young bots after they online.:

The Prime smirked a little. :Before or after they do something stupid?:

The mech snorted over the comms. :Hush you.: He ordered, though his tone was more playful than stern. :You're the one bot on this crew who has their helm screwed on straight.:

The two shared a chuckle as they walked back to the Orion. Inside, Ratchet passed Override a small yellow cube, the additive. The femme downed the liquid inside in a single swig, before passing the cube back to the medibot. "Thanks Ratchet. Good night-cycle."

"Good night-cycle Prime." Ratchet watched the femme make her way to her quarters, before he ex-vented. "Poor kid." He muttered, making his way to his own quarters. He patted the wall along the way. "You would've liked her old friend."

There was no answer, though not that he expected one. Not anymore.

Override came online with a start, optics snapping open as her systems jolted. For a moment she lay on her berth, confused, before her audio receptors caught up, nearly making her cringe at the blaring of the ship's alarm.

Leaping to her pedes, the Prime sprinted down the halls. "Teletran, what's going on?!"

The ship's AI responded to her query through her comms. :Alert. Space bridge malfunction. Space bridge malfunction.:

The ship rumbled slightly, making the femme stumble before she caught herself. Rushing out of the airlock, she yelped as her pedes were nearly yanked out from under her by a strong pull. Acting quickly, Override yanked out one of her swords and stabbed it into the asteroid, stabilizing herself as she took in the situation.

Between the two orange prongs of the space bridge was a whirling vortex, which was sucking up everything in its range. As pieces of debris were drawn into it, she could see her crew clinging to the asteroid's surface for dear life. Bulkhead was using his larger mass and bulk to keep Bumblebee from being sucked in, pincer servos stabbed into the tough rock. Ratchet and Wheeljack were both hunkered behind an outcrop, which unfortunately was already starting to break apart. She didn't see Prowl anywhere, which made her spark drop.

That's when Override saw Bulkhead get hit hard in the shoulder kibble with a boulder, sending him tumbling… and Bumblebee flying towards the vortex.

Acting quickly, the femme released her grip and let the suction pull her forwards. Throwing out a servo she launched one of her grapplers from her forearm, while simultaneously launching another from her other arm at the asteroid. :Bumblebee grab it!;

The minibot yelped but grabbed the cable, clinging tightly. The line pulled taunt as the femme locked it, doing the same with the one that now anchored her to the asteroid. :Bulkhead!: Relief flooded her spark seeing that the big mechling had caught himself. :See if you can pull us down!:

:On it boss-bot!: The big mech crawled forwards against the pull, before grabbing the cable and started pulling. Override simultaneously reeled in the line Bumblebee clung to as well as the one holding them to the asteroid. The combined pulling soon had the both of them being shielded by Bulkhead, who had stabbed his thick servos into the ground to better hold on.

Making sure the minibot was secured, Override yanked out a dagger, tied one of her grapples to it, and threw it towards the space bridge controls. The silver blade embedded itself by the controls, and quickly she reeled the line taunt. Taking another dagger, she did the same with her other grapple and stabbed it into the asteroid. Retracting the one cable while slowly loosening the other, she made her way to the controls, fighting against the vortex's powerful suction.

Grunting, the femme Prime grasped the line anchoring her to the asteroid, and letting tension slack just enough in the cable attached to the bridge started typing at the controls. However, to her frustration they didn't respond, and she slammed her open servo against the panel. Closing her optics she focused… then cursed, being forced to yank the dagger from the orange metal and stab it into the panel. It sparked before exploding, and the vortex snapped shut. Just in time as well, as both Wheeljack and Ratchet had almost completely lost their cover.

Venting hard, Override released the grapple cables, putting a servo to her audio receptor. :Prowl! Come in Prowl!: After a klik of silence, the femme cursed. :Slaggit Prowl, answer me!: Don't tell me he was-!

:…I'm here.:

Override vented in relief hearing his voice. :Thank the Allspark. Where are you?:

:Right here.:

Ratchet cursed, jumping back as Prowl appeared beside him. :Don't do that! Curse'ed ninja-bot…: the medibot then smacked Wheeljack upside the helm as the inventor laughed. :Shut it you.: He turned to the slim mech. :Where the slag did you go?!:

Prowl tilted his helm. :I used my boosters to escape the vortex's pull. I was actually making a plan on how to deactivate the space bridge when Prime went into action.:

Ratchet scowled, making motions with his servos akin to strangling someone. The ninjabot remained nonplussed and inclined his helm towards the only femme of the crew. :I apologize for any undue concern I may have caused.:

Override merely ex-vented, making her way over. :I'm glad you're online.: She said to Prowl, before looking at the group. :Status report.:

:A little dinged, but I'm okay.: Bulkead reported, rubbing his shoulder kibble, which was slightly dented.

:Ah ah!: Ratchet tutted, storming over as his medical protocols took over. :I'll be the one who determines that!: He scanned the injury, grumbling to himself.

Override shook her helm, before looking at Wheeljack as the others sounded off their okays. :What on Cybertron happened?:

The inventor shrugged. :No idea.: He said, glancing at the space bridge. :One klik it was fine, the next it was trying to imitate a gravitational singularity!:

The Prime pinched the bridge of her olfactory sensor. :So in other glyphs, you have no idea why it started acting like a black hole.:

:Basically.: Wheeljack rubbed his dark lower faceplate in thought. :Maybe something overloaded the systems…:

Bumblebee scooter closer to his captain. :Wow boss-bot! Did you learn those moves at the academy?!: He smiled up, optics alit with eagerness. :Can you teach me?!:

Override smiled wryly, going to answer, before pausing. She felt… something… pulling at her spark… something… familiar…

:Prime? Prime!:

She ignored the inventor over the comms, making her way over to a pile of debris that had somehow survived the vortex's pull. Pulling out her pickax, the femme started to chip away at it, not even looking up as the others gathered around, curious. Suddenly she struck a weak point, and the rock crumbled.

Bright blue light exploded out, a strange, calming energy washing over the group.

:What… is that?: Bumblebee asked, awed by the cubic orange container emitting the strange light.

:Ratchet… is that…?: Override looked at the medibot, who was staring at the object with wide optics.

:'Is that' what?: Bulkhead asked, confused.

:…The Allspark.: Wheeljack vented, rubbing his optics. :I don't believe this!:

:Wait, this is the Allspark? The real Allspark?: Prowl asked, looking at the object with curiosity, before he kneeled down to touch it.

Ratchet smacked his servo away. :Don't touch it!: He snapped.

:But Ratchet! It's the Allspark!: Wheeljack protested. :We have to bring it back to Cybertron!:

The medibot scowled. :It's better off being thrown through another space bridge!: He snapped.

The inventor made to retort, only for Override to raise a servo as she got an alert on her . :What is it Teletran-1?:

:Warning! Spacecraft entering sector!: The AI reported. :Energy readings match that of Decepticon Warship!:

Bumblebee's optics widened. :Decepticons?! I thought they were wiped out centivorns ago!: He started panicking.

:Not wiped out. Driven off.: Wheeljack corrected, terror lacing in his voice.

Override quickly bent down and grabbed the cube-shaped container. :Everyone back to the Orion!: She ordered, taking off in a sprint towards the ship.

The others quickly followed behind her.

:Why are they even here?!: Bumblebee asked, scared.

:Because they want the Allspark to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction!: Wheeljack answered, leaping over a boulder. :That's why it was hidden away vorns ago!:

:Not just that!: Ratchet corrected. :We had to send it through a random space bridge in order to keep the Decepticons from seizing Iacon! It was the only way to win the war!:

Rushing inside the airlock, Override passed the Allspark to Bulkhead. "Secure this in the cargo hold!" She ordered, taking off towards the bridge. "Everyone else we need to get out of here now!"

Within a breem the Orion was jetting off into space, trying to get away from the warship.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be that easy. "It's following us." Prowl reported from his station.

Override cursed from the command chair. "Wheeljack boost power to the thrusters! If not, reroute power to the shields!"

Bumblebee was shaking in his seat. "Uh hello?! We're a repair crew! Please tell me you're not actually thinking of taking on Decepticons!"

"Hopefully not." Override answered and turned to Bulkhead. "Patch us into Cybertron Command Headquarters. Line 15.458-Alpha."

The large Autobot rebooted his optics. "Wow! Going straight to the top!" He exclaimed, before punching in the code on his oversized keypad.

Override smiled a little, before looking up at the main holo-screen. The smile was quickly wiped away into a scowl.

"Well, well. If it isn't Override." The big chinned blue and orange mech who answered smirked. "Or should I be surprised you're calling? Can't handle your simple duties?"

Override snarled, slamming a fist on the console. "I don't have time for this Sentinel! Patch me through to Ultra Magnus!"

"It's Sentinel Prime." The mech corrected with a scowl. "And why should I do that? You're just a third-rate rock-buster now!"

Grinding her denta, Override's engine growled. "Wheeljack display cargo hold visual!"

Sentinel raised an optic ridge, before looking startled as the hold was displayed, along with the brightly glowing Allspark. "That's-!"

"Sentinel!"

"Patching you through." Override let out a deep ex-vent as the other Prime vanished off-screen, soon being replaced by a militaristic looking white and deep blue mech. "Status report."

"Sir!" The femme Prime saluted the Supreme Commander of the Autobots. "My crew found the Allspark and we are being pursued by a Decepticon Warship!" She quickly sent over the data from Teletran-1.

"Hmm." The Magnus looked over the data. "Likely a lost scout ship. Not uncommon in the outer sectors ever since they were driven off Cybertron."

Wheeljack jumped up. "Sir! With all due respect, these readings are more in line with a command ship!"

Ultra Magnus frowned. "Are you certain Wheeljack?" He glanced at something out of view of the live visual. "The readings I'm receiving from your ship say otherwise."

"Then there's an error in transmission sir!" Override cut in, one optic on Teletran's readings. "With all due respect, I'd rather not take chances sir!"

"I understand. I will send out a strike force to intercept immediately. In the meantime, try to keep your distance. Override," the commander locked optics with the femme, "please try not to play hero. It is… not in your programming. Ultra Magnus out."

The femme's faceplate darkened as she looked at the screen when it went back to showing data, clenching her fists. Prowl's voice forced her to focus back on the situation. "Decepticons still on our tail and closing in fast!"

Bumblebee stood up, looking out the front panes. "So, uh, why don't we see 'em?" He asked, turning his helm back and forth.

"Likely because they're behind us." Override answered, trying not to snap at the younger's obliviousness, sitting down and typing at her keypad. "Teletran, plot a course to the nearest operational space bridge!"

"What's the plan Prime?" Ratchet asked, looking up at the only femme.

"We're going to leave this sector and hopefully the Decepticons behind us." She said, watching Teletran plot a course to a different space bridge than the one they had been docked at. "Hopefully we can rendezvous with the strike force and make it to safety intact."

"A solid plan." Prowl noted, before jerking in his seat. The others did as well, as a massive purple ship suddenly rose into view.

"Where did that come from?!" Override wasn't sure who shouted that, nor did she particularly care. "Evasive maneuvers Teletran!" She ordered, and the ship veered away from the warship.

Wheeljack typed furiously at his station, before cursing. "That's the Nemesis!" He exclaimed. "It's the only known Decepticon warship with those markings!"

Ratchet looked at the ship in horror. "Megatron…"

Bumblebee spun around to face the medibot. "Megatron?!" He squeaked; optics huge. "As in the cruel and vicious Decepticon leader?! Who drinks Autobot protoform energon for fuel?!"

"We're offline." Bulkhead whimpered.

Override narrowed her optics. "Not on my watch."

On the Nemesis, a Vosian seeker glared out the front panes. "Megatron is a fool! Chasing a ghost for decavorns." His arms were crossed as his wings twitched. "I highly doubt the Allspark is aboard such an insignificant vessel." He sneered, glaring at the much smaller form of the Orion.

A hulking brute of a mech growled, stomping over to the seeker. "Traitor! Megatron is wise! Megatron is bold!" He proclaimed, his main optic narrowing at the slimmer mech. "Megatron will return the Decepticons to Cybertron and-!"

"-and wipe our homeworld clean of the Autobot tyranny blah-dy blah blah!" A spidery femme mocked the bulkier mech. She put her servos on her hips. "Did you memorize that speech, Lugnut? Or is it just hardwired into that thick one-track processor of yours?!" She poked the big mech in the forehelm, making him snarl.

Suddenly, the femme yanked her arm back just before a blast of super-chilled energy could freeze it.

"As usual Blackarachnia," an accented voice cut in, "your demeanor is as unpleasant as that accursed organic mode of yours." A new mech walked up, the cannons over his shoulders folding back as he regarded her, one of his crimson optics covered by a large lense.

The spidery femme hissed. "Blow it out your actuator three-face."

The mech's faceplate rotated, revealing an angry expression with a red visor. "The name is Blitzwing insect! Remember it, cause it's the last thing you'll hear before-!" His faceplate rotated again, revealing a black face with a glowing red jagged intake and crazed red optics. "-I express my feelings in song!" He cackled, starting to dance a little. "The itsy-bitsy spider~!" The Decepticon started to sing off key.

Blackarachnia snarled. "You little-!"

An argument/yelling match broke out between the four Decepticons, each of their voices raising as they tried to get the last glyph in. Down below at the controls, a boxy mech turned in his seat. "Alert. Megatron approaches." He stated in a monotone voice.

The four stopped their bickering and turned to the main doors. They opened, revealing the massive form of their leader. The dark mech with pointed shoulder guards and a massive fusion cannon on his right arm entered, and the Decepticons stood at attention. Their leader walked to the helm of the ship's bridge, his purple insignia glowing on his chest plate. "Starscream, report."

The seeker bowed to him. "Energy reading off the scale, my liege." He smirked, gesturing to the readouts on a holo-screen. "Shall I order fire upon the Autobots?"

"Cripple their ship, but do not destroy it." Megatron ordered, narrowing his crimson optics at the vessel. "Yet."

Starscream straightened up, smiling. "Yes yes! Brilliant strategy, oh wise and great leader!" The seeker turned to the mech at the controls. "Soundwave, fire upon the Autobots!"

"As you command." The boxy mech turned, aiming a laser at the Orion.

"Alert! Energy weapons detected charging!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Override barked out. "Divert all excess energon to shields!"

The Orion shook as laser fire started to pepper it. "Wheeljack!"

"I'm trying!" The inventor snapped, typing furiously at his controls. "But the system won't let me!"

The Prime cursed, before she slammed the flats of her servos against her consol. Instantly a holo-screen popped up before her, data scrolling across it. The same data scrolled across her optics as she accessed the different systems of the Orion, before Teletran's automated voice spoke. "Warning. Unauthorized access detected. Unauthorized access-"

Oh, shut up! Override scowled, narrowing her optics as she hacked through. Finally, an alert popped up as she accessed what she wanted. "Deploy energon shielding!"

Unfortunately, it didn't give her the answer she wanted. "This function has been disabled in compliance with Cybertron's ongoing efforts to conserve energon."

"Seriously?!" The femme yelped as the ship rocked from a direct hit, sending her tumbling back, forcefully disconnecting her from the Orion's systems. Another blast hit the ship, and the rest of the Autobots were all jolted from their seats as the vessel lurched.

"We're all gonna offline, aren't we?" Bumblebee lamented, shuttering his optics as he lay on the floor.

"Not on my function." Override growled, climbing off the floor and grabbing at the manual controls. Giving the steering controls a yank, she diverted the Orion away from the warship and back towards the asteroid field. However, the AI system tried to steer the ship away. "Warning! Asteroid field detected. Initiating alternate route."

"Slag that!" The Prime slammed a servo on the controls, overriding the system and steering into the field.

Wheeljack scrambled back to his station. "Are you crazy?! We'll get slagged in this field!"

"We'll have a better chance of outmaneuvering that warship here than out in the open!" Override snapped, jerking the manual controls as she steered the ship through the field, dodging both asteroids and laser fire.

Ratchet cursed as he was sent sliding into a wall. "Careful! Where'd you learn to drive?! A-!" His rant was cut off as the ship jolted from scraping against an asteroid.

"Sorry Ratchet! But unless you have another plan then this is all we got!" Override said, twisting the controls and putting more power into the thrusters, blasting the Orion between two planetoids.

Behind them in hot pursuit, the Nemesis easily plowed through the space rocks.

"I got a match on the energy reading." Blackarachnia reported from her station. "If it's not the Allspark, then it's something just as powerful." She purred.

"I concur with Blackarachnia's readings." Soundwave stated, looking at the energy report. "They match scans of the Allspark taken during the Siege of Iacon."

At the rear of the bridge, Starscream bowed to his lord and master, who was sitting on a throne. "I volunteer to deploy with my armada and breach the Autobot ship."

Megatron clenched a fist. "I didn't spend the last four million stellar cycles searching the galaxy just so you could lay your greasy servos on the Allspark." The warlord reached over and seized the Vosian by a wing, denting the metal and making the seeker yelp in pain as he was dragged forwards. "I will harness its energy into the ultimate weapon." Megatron proclaimed, standing to his pedes. "And crush the Autobots for good." With that he released Starscream's wing and left the bridge.

The seeker hissed in pain, looking at his dented wing edge. "Well, I'll just get this fixed then…" he muttered, before scowling at his leader's back.

Soon the Nemesis managed to overtake the Autobot vessel, flying over it as the Orion continued to dodge asteroids and laser fire. In the hanger bay, seekers saluted Megatron as their lord walked past them to the hatch.

"What do you want now, Starscream?" The warlord asked as the hatch opened, not turning to face his second in command. The SIC dismissed the seekers from the bay, before turning to his lord.

Starscream patted his master on the back, stepping back and bowing to him. "Only to wish you luck my liege." He purred suavely.

Megatron stepped towards the opening. "I do not believe in luck." With that he jumped out, transforming into his spaceship form and rocketing off towards the Autobot vessel.

The treacherous vosian smirked as the hatch closed. "Neither do I."

Override felt her optics widen as Teletran-1 displayed an incoming form from the rear security camera. "Is that… Megatron?" She asked, feeling her spark tighten in fear.

Beside her, Ratchet nodded, his vocalizer locked from fear.

"We are so slagged." Wheeljack whimpered.

Bulkhead stared at the incoming starship, which transformed into a menacing figure. "You never said he was so big."

"You never said he could fly!" Bumblebee yelped, and the crew could only watch as the warlord easily caught up to their ship. He flew closer… closer…

And then just vanished.

Bulkhead reset his optics. "Guess he wasn't coming for us." He said slowly, disbelief in his voice.

Override frowned. "I don't know Bulkhead-" whatever else she was going to say was cut off as the ship suddenly jolted.

"Upper hull is being melted through!" Wheeljack reported, diagnostic readings flying across his holo-screen. "We'll be breached in a klik!"

"Ratchet, seal the hull breach!" The femme ordered. "Prowl, I need you to hold the ship steady!" She turned to their two youngest members. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, you two guard the Allspark!" She then turned to the second oldest Autobot among them. "Wheeljack, divert power from all damaged systems!"

"What are you going to do?" The inventor asked, typing away at his station.

Override smiled grimly. "I'm going to hold off Megatron."

Bumblebee skidded to a stop as the door exiting the bridge opened. "Wait! We're repair bots!" He squeaked, his processor catching up. "We're not programmed for this kinda action!"

"Then consider this an upgrade." Their Prime said, slamming both servos on the control panel and accessing the systems.

On the top of the Orion, Megatron smirked seeing the hull starting to melt under the continuous blast of his fusion cannon. Soon, the power of the Allspark will belong to me.

Suddenly, two mechanical arms grasped him, making the warlord snarl silently in the void of space.

On the bridge, Override was fully tapped into the controls, manipulating the arms. Normally they were used for maintenance or loading/offloading supplies. This cycle, they were going to hold a Decepticon.

Megatron pulled against the makeshift restraints, one having grabbed his fusion cannon, the other his left shoulder plate. The struggle was in a deadlock…

Until an explosion rocked the Orion.

From the Nemesis, Starscream watched in glee as the force of the explosion sent the Autobot vessel careening out of control in the void of space. "Yes!" He cheered, before turning away from the window. "Right right." He smirked, walking towards the bridge. "Solemn faceplate. Solemn faceplate." That bomb worked better than I could've hoped for. Once the Autobot vessel crashes, I can dig the Allspark from the debris and rule the universe!

The Orion spiraled out of control through the asteroid field, smoke flying from the top of the hull. Inside, Teletran-1 blared alerts. "Warning! Hull breach! Warning!"

"Sealing hatches alpha, omega, and epsilon!" Wheeljack pressed several spots on his readout of the ship. "Initiating fire suppression system!"

As the suppression system activated, Override helped Ratchet up. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live." The medibot grunted, though he let the femme led him to his seat. "It'll take more than this to take this old bot out."

An alert suddenly blared. "Warning! Planetary impact imminent!"

Override snapped her helm up, and saw they were heading straight for a planetoid. Cursing, she grabbed the controls and pulled back on them hard, straining to steer the ship clear. "Prowl! I need you to divert all available power to the thrusters!"

"On it!" The ninja bot jumped off where he had ended up on the floor back to his seat and started to divert power.

The overhelm lights flickered as Override grunted, pulling as hard as she could at the controls. "Ratchet, activate the landing boosters!"

"Are you crazy?!" The medibot looked at her with wide optics. "You can't engage those mid-flight!"

"Just do it!" The femme Prime snapped, internally wincing as Ratchet flinched but did as told.

On the lower hull of the Orion the landing boosters flared to life. The boosters began to push the ship up and combined with Override's steering, they were able to avoid crashing into the planetoid. Instead, the ship just missed scraping the cratered surface, and soon flew upwards and away towards the damaged space bridge.

In the cargo hold, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were startled when the Allspark started glowing.

"Hey!" The yellow minibot yelped, having to shield his optics. "What's that thing doing?!"

Bulkhead just stared in awe, before the Allspark released a blinding flash.

On the bridge, Override suddenly felt her spark pulse, and snapping her helm back she was awed as the ship started to glow blue with Allspark energy. That energy suddenly shot towards the space bridge, activating it. Between the orange prongs a vortex formed, and the Orion flew straight into it.

Then, the space bridge exploded.

On the Nemesis, Starscream was addressing all the troops from the bridge. "This is a dark cycle in Decepticon history." He said with false pity, watching the explosion out the front panes. "May the legacy of our fallen leader Megatron live in our sparks for all eternity."

He looked down to face the troops, who were lined up on the lower deck of the bridge. "As second in command, I now appoint myself new leader, and I solemnly pledge to-!"

"Alert! Energy wave incoming!" Soundwave reported from his station, before the Nemesis was rocked. Alerts blared and Decepticons started bolting.

"Wait! I order all of you to remain here!" Starscream snapped, only to yelp and tumble into the throne as the ship rumbled.

"Incoming explosion imminent! All Decepticons evacuate at once!" Soundwave ran from his station, and soon escape pods were blasting away from the Nemesis.

Starscream groaned as he sat up on the throne, and his red optics widened in horror as the explosion started to engulf the ship. He screamed in rage and disbelief as the Nemesis was lost in the blast.

In an uncharted sector of space, a vortex opened by a gray moon orbiting a blue and green planet. From it emerged the Orion, still damaged, and drifting towards the unknown planet.

On the bridge, Override groaned, pulling herself up. "Uh… status report." She asked, holding a servo to her aching helm. Smoke rose around her, and she couldn't see her crew through it. When she didn't get an answer, she pressed on the ship's comms. "Prowl? Ratchet? Bumblebee? Would somebot please report?!"

Suddenly her battle protocols flared to life, and the femme spun around. Before she could react, a massive black servo grabbed her shoulder and slammed her into a wall, knocking her vision into static for a moment.

"The Allspark." A dark voice growled, and Override's vision cleared enough for her to see what, or rather who was pinning her. "Where is it, Autobot?" Megatron snarled.

"Like I'd tell you." The femme snarled, seeing the warlord was missing the majority of his right arm and was badly damaged.

Megatron scowled, before grunting as a fist impacted the side of his helm. The impact made the Warlord drop the femme, stumbling back, while the Prime took her chance to leap over the console and away from him.

"Take that!" Wheeljack whooped, now missing his left arm.

"A rocket-fist?! Wheeljack!" Ratchet snapped from behind him, wanting to smack the inventor upside the helm.

Megatron snarled, only to grunt as two pedes slammed into his chest, making him stumble back. Prowl landed before him, soon joined by Override. The two Autobots surged forwards, but the warlord recovered faster than expected. Dodging one of Override's blades, his only servo grabbed her around the torso and swung her into the cyberninja, which simultaneously knocked her blade from the femme's grip. Prowl cried out as he was sent flying back, before grunting as he was pinned under a pede.

Ratchet and Wheeljack charged forwards, the latter reattaching his arm, and tackled the Decepticon's arm. Both however were swung off by the much larger cybertronian, who then proceeded to pin Override against a wall by her neck cables. "I grow impatient." Megatron growled.

The femme Prime snarled, and, grabbed at the Decepticon's faceplate with her right servo, digits digging in just under his left optic. As the warlord's engine snarled, and he tried to get her to let go, the femme lifted her other arm and fired one of her grapples. The Decepticon raised an optic-ridge. "Was that supposed to frighten me?"

Override smirked. "Who said I was aiming at you?" She then yanked her arm, the grapple pulling a lever by Bumblebee's station.

"Artificial gravity disabled."

Without the ship's gravity, everything onboard, not secured down, started floating… including the cybertronians.

Megatron looked down as he was suddenly no longer pinning the ninja to the floor. Using the distraction, Override coiled her legs to her chest plate before kicking out. Her pedes hit the warlord square over his spark, making him grunt in pain and fly back away from her.

Ratchet laughed from where he floated. "Good thinking Prime!" He praised. "Putting us on equal pedes, so to speak." Activating the magnets in his pedes, he stuck to the ceiling, pulling a dazed Wheeljack up next to him.

Override just narrowed her optics, focused on the Decepticon, and activated her battle mask. It slid into place over her lower faceplate, while she pulled out her other blade and a dagger. The edge of her sword ignited with blue energy.

Megatron met her glare, using the remains of his right arm strut to latch onto a crack in the upper hull.

The bridge doors opened behind the warlord, where Bumblebee flailed into the bridge from the zero gravity. "Hey! Who turned off the-?! Oof!" He grunted as Bulkhead floated into him from behind. "Sorry! My bad!"

The minibot waved his arms wildly in an attempt to control himself as he was sent tumbling, before he impacted something. Giving his helm a shake, the yellow bot looked up to see it was Megatron's massive pede.

Despite the initial terror, Bumblebee couldn't resist cracking a jab at the Decepticon. "Know what, you're even uglier from this angle!"

Narrowing his optics at the insult, Megatron growled. With his remaining servo, he reached back and pulled out a massive metallic sword.

Bumblebee squeaked in terror and flailed as he did his best to dodge the blade trying to slice him up. "And scarier too!"

A grapple suddenly wrapped around the warlord's arm, yanking it back and away from the minibot. "Leave him alone!" Override snarled. "And face me!"

Megatron's engine growled as he turned to face her, slicing the grapple with his sword. "You want to challenge me, Autobot?"

The Prime narrowed her optics. "No one messes with my crew."

Suddenly, a black and gold blur shot by her. "Prowl wait-!" Override reached out at the same time Megatron swung his blade at the ninja bot. However, it passed right through, the 'Prowl' flickering out of existence. The Decepticon barely had time to compute what just happened before he cried out, his right arm strut being slashed by a shuriken and leaving him floating in the zero gravity.

"I'll give you that one Prowl." Override admitted, though she narrowed her optics at the other. "Though a warning over the comms would've been nice."

Prowl just cocked his helm at her from where he was perched on the ceiling. "I work better alone."

"So you've stated." The femme mumbled, before grunting as Bulkhead accidentally floated into her. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" The big bot apologized.

Override groaned, before snapping her helm up as she heard Ratchet shout, "Incoming!"

The medibot was using his magnetic mods to grab a hold of the sliced off part of Megatron's arm strut and threw it at the warlord. The Decepticon grunted as it hit his faceplate, making him spin in the zero gravity.

"Everybot follow my lead!" Override ordered, and pushed off the ground, lunging at the warlord. "And get him!"

Megatron grunted as the Autobots collectively tackled him, and snarling he tried to pry them off. The struggling cybertronians floated over towards the front controls, soon hitting a lever.

Alarms blared as the thrusters powered up, the ship rocketing forwards towards the blue planet below. "Warning! Unknown planetary body ahead! Initiating alternative route."

Bulkhead yelped as Megatron grabbed his faceplate and cried out as he was lobbed towards the back of the bridge.

"Attempt failed. Attempting an alternative route."

Prowl stabbed one of his shurikens into the warlord's back, but that only made the Decepticon snarl and lash out at him with his sword.

"Attempt failed. Attempting an alternative route."

Bumblebee's stingers further irritated the warlord, who swiped at him. Wheeljack's rocket fist impacted his lower faceplate, getting a grunt of pain.

"Attempt failed. Alert! Gravity field detected. Engaging artificial gravity."

The ship rattled as it approached the blue and green planet, but the cybertronians inside continued their battle. That was until the ship jolted, entering the planet's upper atmosphere.

There were yelps as bots impacted the back wall, though Override ended up flying through the open bridge doors, bounced down the hallways, before flying into the cargo bay. She grunted as her back struts impacted some supply crates, and she lay there for a moment, stunned.

A massive pede suddenly came down on her chest, and the Prime cried out as she was pinned. "Now bring me the Allspark, and I may spare your miserable Autobot lives." Megatron growled.

Override hissed. "Never Decepticreep!" She spat.

The Decepticon's red optics narrowed, before he brought his blade down on her. It was met by Override's ion blade, and the femme snarled behind her battle mask as she struggled to keep from having her helm sliced off. She had to use both servos to hold back the much larger sword.

"I grow impatient." Megatron hissed, putting more weight on his pede and dragging a cry of pain from the femme as she felt the pressure on her spark chamber. Even still, she didn't relent, narrowing her own optics. "Never."

"So be it." Megatron raised his sword up, ready to end her…

Only to cry out as a blast impacted his left optic. He stumbled back, dropping his sword and grabbing at his faceplate. "Insolent little-! Arg!"

Override yelled as she tackled the warlord, her left servo now replaced by an ion blaster. Pressing it into the Decepticon's side, she fired several times, drawing a roar of pain as the shots started to crack through the thick armour. Lashing out, Megatron managed to backservo the femme, sending her flying into the side wall with a cry. Snarling, the warlord stumbled forwards, ready to finish her…

Only to catch the glowing form of the Allspark out of the corner of his optics. He smirked. "At last…"

Override groaned as she looked up, only for her optics to widen seeing the warlord heading towards the relic. "No!" Acting fast she threw two energy daggers, which embedded themselves into Megatron's back. The Decepticon snarled in pain and turned towards her. "You are proving to be quite the persistent little Autobot."

The femme narrowed her optics. "My name is Override Prime!" With that she smashed her fist against the airlock controls.

Alarms blared. "Warning! Docking tunnel deployed."

The suction effect was instantaneous when the airlock opened, dragging anything not secured down towards it. Megatron roared as he was pulled back, grabbing at the edge of the airlock with his only servo.

The Allspark started to slide over as well, only for Override to kick it away with her pede, before using the suction to give her more power as she lunged at the warlord. The femme knocked the two of them into the docking tunnel, where she quickly pulled out her sword and stabbed it into the tunnel wall. It jerked as it caught, stopping her from flying out, but Override grunted as she felt a massive servo grab her pede.

Megatron snarled, holding onto the femme. "I will have the Allspark Autobot!"

Override Prime pulled out a dagger. "Not on my watch Decepticon!" With a yell she sliced off the warlord's remaining servo, and Megatron roared as he was sucked out into the atmosphere, turning into a fireball.

Cycling her vents hard, Override kicked off the severed servo before stabbing the dagger into the tunnel, beginning to pull herself back inside. The ship continued to rattle, the exterior heating up as it plunged through the planet's atmosphere.

Down below, a young Indian boy tinkered on a robotic arm in his makeshift lab. Finished, he tried to control it, only to yelp and shield his face as the joints sparked and smoked.

He groaned, dismayed. "Not again…"

Suddenly, a faint boom shook the farmhouse. Running to the window, his eyes widened seeing something smoking in his father's cornfield. Grabbing a flashlight, the pre-teen ran outside towards the smoke. Pushing through the corn stalks, he eventually came upon a ditch carved into the ground. Sliding down into it, he followed it to the smoke…

And gasped when his flashlight revealed the offline head of a giant robot.

"Warning. Planetary impact imminent." Teletran-1 reported, the Orion on a collision course with a populated area.

Override stumbled back onto the bridge, knowing she had no time to lose. "Everyone into the stasis pods!" She ordered, making her way to the command console.

"What about you?" Bumblebee asked, while the others ran to their pods.

Override smiled grimly, grabbing at the controls. "I'll join you once I've steered us clear of this populated sector."

"But-!"

"Go!" The minibot looked at his leader with wide optics, before nodding and entering his pod.

Override strained as she pulled at the controls, which refused to respond to her. Seeing the metropolis getting closer, she let go of the controls and slammed her servos against the console. Instantly data scrolled across her vision as she took control of the ship, grinding her denta while she steered it up. For a long moment it seemed they were going to hit one of the skyscrapers, when the Orion leveled out enough to avoid the city, instead flying over it and towards a large liquid body.

"Warning. Engine malfunction. Engine Malfunction."

The ship shook as the thrusters spluttered, and then gave out. Without them the Orion started to descend towards the lake surface.

"Prime!" Ratchet shouted from his pod.

Override disconnected from the ship's systems and stumbled towards the pods. The ship shook as it impacted the surface, the femme crying out as she tripped and crashed into the pod.

"Prime!"

"I'm okay." Override groaned, pushing herself up and laying on her back. "Teletran initiate emergency stasis!"

"Initiating emergency stasis mode."

With that the clear covers on the pods frosted over, and the bots inside fell into stasis.

Eventually the ship hit the lake bottom, sliding across the sand until it came to a stop.

50 years later…

"Back in the early twentieth century, Detroit was known as the Motor City; the automobile manufacturing capital of the world. Today, Detroit has expanded and is once again the world's leading manufacturer. But not of automobiles, but automatons. Robots. Or as we here at Sumdac Systems like to call them; our tireless mechanical partners.

"Ever reliable, never complaining, no task too mundane or unpleasant. Unencumbered by fears and phobias, able to survive and withstand extreme environments far beyond the capacity of us mere humans." On a stage outside a large factory by the edge of Lake Erie, an Indian man in his early sixties, wearing a lab coat, addressed the crowd before him. "Now today, I will unveil the latest innovation in human safety."

Turning to the scientists behind him, he gave a nod. With that, they grabbed the tarp covering a large object, pulling it off and revealing the robot beneath.

The crowd, composed of reporters and policefolk, oohed and aahed at the sight of the machine. It was a stockily built robot, with a wide torso, thick legs and arms, and no head.

"This is the latest in police automation." The man said, gesturing towards his invention with a black gloved hand. "I call it C.A.P. Or the Command Autonomous Patrol unit."

A reporter raised his hand. "What does it do, Professor Sumdac?"

The professor smiled, running a hand through his wild black hair, which had a white streak running through it. "This machine is designed to take command of police drones and coordinate them. Though it is controlled by a human."

One of the scientists pressed a button on the outside of the C.A.P., and the front opened to reveal a seat inside. "Given the number of complaints Sumdac System's received over issues with coordinating the police drones, I invented this to provide our ever-hardworking police with a way to better control the units-"

"Sparkplug!" A young female voice shouted. "Get back here you mangy little mutt! My key is not a chew toy!"

Everyone turned and saw a young redhead preteen in an orange dress with yellow tights and orange boots chasing a robotic dog, shouting at it to stop. The robotic dog raced up onto the platform and around Sumdac, followed by the young girl. The inventor yelped and stumbled, before the dog crashed into his legs…

And the whole lot ended up in a pile on the platform.

The Indian teenager soon sat up, rubbing her head. "S-Sorry Dad…"

Sumdac sighed, sitting upright. "It's alright Sari." He said, patting her shoulder. Reaching down, he snagged the keycard from Sparkplug's mouth. "I guess you are still working on his programming?"

Sari nodded. "Yeah. He still thinks my keycard is a chew toy." The young girl scowled at the robotic mutt, who barked at her.

The two stood up, and Sumdac turned to his audience. "My apologies everyone. I will be right back. Mr. Chase will continue the demonstration." Father and daughter walked off to the side as another scientist took the stage. "As professor Sumdac was saying, this unit can be used to remotely control…"

"I'm really sorry Dad." Sari whimpered as she and her father walked back towards the main building. "I know how much this day meant to you."

Sumdac smiled softly, and kissed his daughter's head. "It's alright my daughter. Accidents happen. That is a part of inventing after all!" He chuckled.

Sari smiled weakly, before yelping as Sparkplug jumped up, trying to snatch her keycard. "Sparkplug!"

Professor Issac Sumdac laughed. "And it seems your first accident will be fixing Sparkplug's coding!" The father watched with a smile as his young daughter chased the robotic dog around, trying to catch it.

Shaking his head fondly, he turned and headed back to the demonstration.

On the stage, a scientist was sitting inside the C.A.P., demonstrating how the machine could take control of the drones. Five police drones were being made to do different movements and configurations, all directed by one man. The drones were stout, grey coloured, and with tank-esqe treads instead of legs. On their 'heads' were police lights, with the city's police department logo stamped on each cylindrical arm.

"Impressive, but the human element is still fairly limited." A thick policeman with balding blonde hair and a mustache commented, crossing his arms. "And how do we know it won't malfunction?"

"Be assured Chief Fanzone, all necessary precautions have been taken." Sumdac said as he retook the stage. "The C.A.P. is designed to resist even hacking, preventing it from being used against-"

"Whoa!" The scientist inside the machine yelped as a metallic rope wrapped around him, yanking him out. Gasps filled the air as a woman in skin-tight robotic armour landed on the stage. "Mind if I give it a spin?" She purred.

Several policemen pulled out their guns. "Cyberpunk! You are under arrest!" Fanzone snarled.

The woman smiled coyly; her eyes hidden behind a visor. "I think not chief."

With that she backflipped towards the C.A.P., landing inside. Before anyone could react, the hatch sealed shut.

Sumdac's eyes widened. "Everyone get back!" He shouted, as the C.A.P. lurched to life, stepping forwards. The drones immediately followed it, under the machine's control.

Inside, Cyberpunk cackled, her robotic fingers having integrated with the controls. "With this I can control every machine in Detroit!"

The visor on the C.A.P.'s head flashed, sending out a signal that took over every robot in its radius, not just police drones like it had been initially designed for. Panic ensued as citizens found their robotic companions turning against them.

"Open fire!" Fanzone ordered. "And call in the S.W.A.T. units!"

Bullets ricocheted off the C.A.P., unable to breach the thick armour designed to protect the user from enemy fire.

"Detroit is mine!" Cyberpunk cackled from inside. "Nothing can stop me from taking over this city!"

Sumdac stared in horror as the other scientists fled behind him. It was his worst nightmare; robotics being used to harm humanity instead of helping it. And he had built it.

A/N - Ba-dun-dun-DUN!

Cyberpunk is my OC. You'll learn more about her in the next chapter (the thought of introducing a villain asap was too intriguing to pass up. Especially one more confident than 'The Angry Archer', who's more comic relief than anything.

You'll also see some small changes I've made to this universe. Fanzone has been promoted to Police Chief, Sari is much older than in the first season (I have my reasons), etc. And of course… Wheeljack is here! I fell in love with the inventor in G1, though his TFP/Aligned version was super cool as a battle-hardened Wrecker. Ergo, when he only had a cameo in the Animated series, I had to rectify that. The rocket-fist scene (which honestly, is so Wheeljack), was inspired by Emotwo's fanfic, TFA Kaleidoscope. It's a really good take on the series and honestly, go take a look. Though it hasn't been updated since 2019. Hope they're okay, wherever they are.

Also, discovered the most frustrating part of working with sorting samples: when they're less than a millimeter and you slightly jostle the microscope sample plate. T-T

Next Chapter: Arrival II: Contact