"If you're going through hell, keep going."

Winston Churchill

Chapter 3: Behind silence and solitude

Geneva, Switzerland.

2nd November 2012

30 minutes AE (After Extinction)

Jack removed his helmet and felt the chilly, wet air touch his face. Growing up in Jasper, Nevada his whole life, this was an unusual sensation. As it was seeing the extensive lake - that he had just learnt was named 'Léman' - that bathed the city.

Jack took a breath and turned to the blue motorcycle. "Why did we groundbridge here, all the way to Europe?"

She transformed. "This is the location of Site Cradle. A beta base in case Outpost Omega ever fell. And now…" she let that statement hang.

So, not all was lost. He looked over Ratchet, who silently walked towards what used to be a rundown, abandoned factory. Only that now was Cybertronian sized, since it had become coated in alien metal. In fact, most of the landscape was metal and gigantified, reminding the youth a lot of Cybertron. Except…

No! He shook his head. He wouldn't dare to think or even acknowledge the main feature that distinguished the place from the Cybertronian homeworld. Even when there were millions of the same features scattered all around, petrified forever…

NO! Stop it!

He turned his focus back to the lake, the one thing around that wasn't metal. Ratchet's voice sounded in the distance, likely giving orders, but he didn't pay it any heed.

"Jack…"

He ignored it.

"Jack…"

Silence.

"Jack, please. Say something." Arcee softly laid a servo on his shoulder.

He finally replied. "'Cee, can we make a call from here?"

"Yes, but…"

"I need to call mom."

"...Jack, there's no point."

"Why?" Jack turned to face her, outraged. "She could still have evacuated from Jasper. The 'Cons weren't invading the town yet."

Arcee's lips trembled just slightly. The last and only time he had seen his partner in such a frightened, sorrowful state was following the ill-fated mission to rescue Cliffjumper. When she returned, exposed to whatever depravity Megatron did to the poor 'Bot with Dark Energon. She had looked so weak, vulnerable. A sight he had never gotten from her again. Until now.

Were the situation not involving his mother, he would be a lot more sympathetic. But right now they were relatively safe. And his mother might not be.

"Jack…I'm so sorry." she lamented.

"Arcee…"

"Arcee!" Ratchet made his approach, scowling. "I have been calling for you. There is much work to be done. We have to turn Site Cradle into a permanent base. All hands on deck."

"And who made you boss?" Jack retorted. He wasn't in a good mood and, unfortunately, neither was the medic.

"Optimus did. Until his return, I am assuming command by seniority."

"Fine. I'll call mom, myself."

"Jackson, there's no point." the medic uttered every word quickly, like pulling out something painfully embedded on his side. Arcee gave him a warning glare, which he ignored.

"Yes, there is! If…"

"Jack!" the medic raised his voice. Fists clenched, almost trembling. But his voice never wavered. "If the cyberforming reached our current location, the heart of central Europe, then everything else between us and Nevada has…has perished." He ended with a heavy sigh, turning his eyes from the boy.

"NO! You're wrong!" Jack refuted vehemently. It just couldn't be true. They couldn't be sure. He retorted he couldn't reach anyone by phone before because the 'Cons' warship was blocking their signal. He tried again to call his mother. Then tried Agent Fowler. Then '911'. All to no avail. There was never any answer.

"I'm so sorry." the femme Autobot lamented.

Maybe they were hiding. Yes, mom would have noticed the commotion and ran for cover! They just needed to figure out where she was!

"JACK, LOOK AROUND YOU!" Ratchet howled, extending his arm. Pointing at the main feature that made the place completely different from Cybertron: the 'statues'. Millions and millions of said life-sized, very accurate, very expressive human statues. All running, crying in despair and pain before their lives were snuffed out and their corpses calcified into metal. "YOUR MOTHER IS GONE! AND SO IS YOUR WORLD!"

The medic would regret saying those words, especially in such a manner, for the rest of his life. For the heartless realization crushed the denial as if Ratchet had stomped Jack into the ground. The boy dropped his phone and fell on his knees, hurting them when they hit the cyberformed earth.

Arcee wasted no time trying to console him, shoving Ratchet away. The mech opened his mouth to try and say something of an apology. Alas, there was nothing he could say. So he did the best and most cowardly thing and walked away, leaving the two to their mourning.

On his way his foot hit something small. It was a body, a little girl by the looks of it. She had been cyberformed kneeling, hands covering her crying eyes. Frightened and alone. Probably begging for her guardians - or parents as humans say - for help. A spark of sorrow struck the old medic. He spared a slow look to his surroundings. Everything was metal. For a Cybertronian, it felt actually welcoming. But for a human…it was all dead.

Utah desert.

"Welcome aboard the Jackhammer, boss-bot." In spite of the greeting, Wheeljack's demeanor was anything but welcoming.

"Wheeljack, take us to the crash site of the Harbinger." Optimus ordered without preamble, referring to the Decepticon warship that crash-landed on Earth millions of years before. During Starscream's days as a rogue, he had made use of the wreck as his base. Optimus was counting on the traitorous Commander not having had the foresight of destroying it before returning to Megatron's ranks.

As the Jackhammer took off, full speed for their destination, Wheeljack didn't waste any time asking the question. "What went wrong?"

Optimus didn't give an immediate answer, but the Wrecker was respectful enough to wait.

"We had discovered the means of restoring life to Cybertron." Optimus proceeded to explain the discovery of the Omega Lock and the Keys, the ultimate creation of the Primes to re-energize their world, should it ever suffer like it did in the aftermath of the war. But after the Autobots acquired all but one of the Omega Keys, Starscream deceived them and stole them all. The rogue Decepticon used all four Omega Keys to buy his return into the Decepticon ranks. The Omega Lock was located on Cybertron and both factions raced there.

"And you didn't invite me, because?" Wheeljack frowned sternly.

"You were hard to reach and time was short. Also, I do not think your presence would have changed the outcome." Optimus refrained from saying it, but it was implied why Wheeljack's assistance was not asked. Previously, Bulkhead had been mortally wounded by an Insecticon and Wheeljack took it upon himself to offline the scrub. Miko, whom had snuck in, was the one who killed the Insecticon. The rest of Team Prime was very upset with Wheeljack for allowing Miko on his revenge trip. He became more of an outcast by the 'Bots since then until he came to their rescue.

Optimus carried on, explaining how the Autobots retrieved the Keys back through sneak and surprise and use of all relics in their arsenal. But upon reaching the Lock, Megatron and his lieutenants arrived with the children in their captivity and threatened to expose them to Cybertron's toxic air if the Autobots did not hand over the Keys. Reluctantly, Optimus had agreed.

"After the exchange, Megatron revealed the true depth of his plan. Instead of using the Lock to restore our homeworld, he unleashed its power on Earth, modifying it into what we see now." The Prime sent a regretful look to the outside.

Wheeljack, though quiet during the entire retelling, had tightened his grip on the controls, threatening to crush them.

"So, Buckethead just offed an entire planet. Again." The Wrecker's voice was leaking hate.

From then on the journey continued quietly.

Upon arriving at badlands where the remains of the warship lied rusting, Optimus informed him they were to quickly dismantle the groundbridge and collect it, plus anything else that might be salvageable. Afterwards, they would unleash the Jackhammer's guns on the wreck to make sure no Decepticon could make use of it, again.

After the groundbridge components were stored aboard, Optimus made his way alone to another part of the ship, in search of something that could be useful. In what used to be the medical bay, he found a complete box of medical tools. But he also uncovered a Decepticon logo painted on the wall. It seemed the medic of the Harbinger was a true believer in their cause.

"You didn't pound Megatron into scrap when you had the chance! Many chances, in fact!" the words of Ratchet resonated in his memory. At the time, the synthetic energon was corrupting his old friend's mind…

…And now Optimus couldn't help but fear that there was some truth, maybe even much truth, in those words. Megatron, through his power lust, had condemned Cybertron into darkness. Though Optimus was certain that was not his intention, it was still by his stubbornness. In refusing to end the war peacefully, after being offered many chances to do so. Today, Megatron had repeated the sin, only this time it was intentional.

After Earth, how many more worlds would die? How many were dying right now at the hands of Decepticons scattered through the galaxy? How many? How many more until the monster he had once called 'brother' would be satisfied?!

The stoic, collected Prime let loose his anger and punched a large dent on the evil symbol.

After the scavenging mission was over, the pair flew to where they were supposed to meet the rest of Team Prime. Amidst the silent voyage, Optimus inquired:

"Are we able to connect to Earth's still operating satellites?"

"Yeah, sure."

Wheeljack did as told and soon the screen displayed a holographic image of planet Earth, facing the western hemisphere, North and South America. Now the continents were a color of grayish metal. The oceans were brilliant puddles of light blue.

"Is that all energon?" Wheeljack dropped his scowl to almost marvel at the image. Optimus didn't reply. He pushed a button and the image changed to show the eastern hemisphere with Europe, Asia and Africa with the same changes. The Prime's hands clenched into trembling fists.

"It is as I feared; I was too late to stop the Omega Lock. Earth and its native life have been cyberformed entirely."

Wheeljack took a moment to digest that. "Then the kids…" he stopped himself from ending that question. The voyage proceeded without another word.

"Never again." Optimus vowed.

Geneva

"Say, Miko. You wanna go hit the road?"

"No." came the sobbed answer and another long period of silent mourning followed. This had become a pattern for Bulkhead. He would remain besides his sobbing partner and watch her mourn. After a while he would ask her something to bring her out of that, to which she replied (when she did) negative. Then he would go back to watch over her and mourn with her.

Time passed quietly until it was interrupted by an approaching Ratchet. The medic came over to ask for Bulkhead's help in setting up the new base. The old bot sounded tired more so mentally than physically. The ex-Wrecker held his ground and told Ratchet he would stay with Miko. He argued when he was at his lowest, intoxicated in Tox-En and with a missile on his back, courtesy of the pit-spawn Insecticon, Miko never left his side. He was damn sure not leaving hers.

To the green bot's surprise, the medic didn't argue as much as he expected. Ratchet gave up and went his way. Bulkhead turned to Miko (who remained quiet throughout the exchange) to see the girl was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, scrap."

With light but quick steps, Miko had evaded the two arguing 'Bots. Given how many times she had sneaked through an opened ground bridge under the Bots' collective, non-existent noses, it was no trouble. Matter of fact, she had been doing her share of sneaking out when still living in Kyoto…

That one stray thought brought out memories and feelings she definitely didn't want to. That lapse caused her to trip and roll on the ground. In her mother language, she cursed her luck, herself, the fall, the ground, the grass…

Wait, grass?

Had Miko looked to her surroundings in her flee attempt, she would have seen she just stumbled upon a house. A large, non-cyberformed house located by the shore of the lake in a patch of non-cyberformed land.

"What do we got here?" she asked herself. Without a second thought she leaped over the closed gate. The house was elegant and well preserved. There was a large vegetable garden in the back. Probably belonged to some well-off family, but not too well-off they would be rich snobs. Her heart flared with hope; whoever these people are, if they were home when the cyber matter hit, then…

She raced to the door and rang the bell thrice. Seconds became minutes but no one answered. More desperate, she called out for anyone. Again, no answer.

"Miko?" said someone behind her.

Yes! With a light heart she turned around…to see only her partner had caught up to her.

"Oh, Bulk. I thought…" 'that someone had survived', but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Right then and there, the crying restarted as the hopelessness of the situation slapped her in face once more. Before, she had contained her tears, desperately not letting out her anguish. Perhaps because she didn't want to appear weak infront of her partner and best friend. Or maybe because crying about would cement the horror as an inescapable reality. Now, it poured out of her as she fell to her knees and hugged herself.

Bulkhead didn't speak. He just stood there, watching and guarding. That was the least and most he could do.

Time flew as Miko's crying gradually ceased. Not because it was over, but rather the girl's eyes were running dry. Silence followed and Bulkhead dared not to interrupt it.

"How was it, Bulk?" at last, she broke the silence with a hoarse voice.

"Huh?"

"When Cybertron went out…how did you keep rolling?"

Bulkhead sighed: "It wasn't easy. Probably the hardest thing I've done. I was aboard the Ark when it left Cybertron, unlike most other Wreckers. Just as hard to leave home behind was to leave them, too. I caught a glimpse of Cybertron while we were taking off." He frowned. Visiting these memories was not something he liked doing, but perhaps Miko needed to hear it. He kept his optics opened, because he knew if he closed them while bringing this up, the visions would return. "It was black, dark, none of the lights it showed during the night cycle. Dead."

A pause.

"All that kept me going was remembering I hadn't lost everyone. I still had friends and a reason to fight."

Miko looked up at him with watery eyes and hugged his wheel-foot.

Night arrived, chilly and moist, even though the clouds in the sky were no longer water. Miko opted to go stretch her legs and Bulkhead wanted to go with, but she asked him not to and he reluctantly agreed.

She walked alone around the petrified, empty city but changed course when she approached a crowd of its citizens eternally frozen in panic and confusion. She didn't want to look at any other victims, now or ever. She endeavored to distract herself with any kind of subject that came to mind, from current events to even boring school lessons. One thought popped up about a not-so-boring history lesson about an ancient city and its people frozen in ashes. She even recalled a song about it.

We found you hiding we found you lying

Choking on the dirt and sand

Something caught her eye. A spire that towered above all other buildings. It kinda looked like that sole building the Omega Lock rebuilt on Cybertron. A few more stuck out, though not as tall as that one. If the Omega Lock could also build stuff, maybe it had done same on Earth, she figured.

Your former glories and all the stories

Dragged and washed with eager hands

But, oh oh your city lies in dust, my friend

Oh oh your city lies in dust, my friend

Your city lies in dust

Thinking about it, this small lake city now looked like a metropolis, the Cybertronian-sized infrastructure akin to last time she was in a city, it was New York, on the hunt for the Iacon relic. Before that, it was always Tokyo. Her home city. With her parents and her two cats, Chi-Chi and Ding-Dong. Her family.

She stopped. Miko wanted to go see her family.

"Please, Bee. I just want to be left alone."

And alone he was left by his despotent partner, who mumbled something about helping Ratchet.

Alone. He was alone again.

Before meeting the Autobots, Rafael's free time was limited to writing programs on his laptop at home, or play with his RC toy car. Both activities were done on his own. Alone. His family was always busy with themselves. Being the youngest of five siblings, mama and papa had their attention mostly distributed through his elders. Sometimes he had to shout just to get attention.

Now he was alone for good. Never again would he get a goodnight kiss from Mama. Never again would he listen to those corny radio talkshows papa loved so much on Sunday morning. Patricia's cupcakes… Julio' stories…Isabel's singing. Never again because they were…

…because he wasn't there with them. Because, as always, Rafael was an outcast and a recluse. It was in that moment, that dark momentary wish that he had been at home with family when Megatron pulled the trigger.

A sudden noise caught his attention. Like something skittering.

"Bee?" No, it couldn't be. No matter how stealthy he was, Bumblebee wasn't capable of being that light on feet. It came from around a corner, getting closer. Before the teary child could think of investigating, the source leaped out of the corner and into view.

"Scraplet!"

There it stood, in tiny, thin legs, with a disproportionate bulbous head, one of the beings that had threatened the old base. It spared Rafael a short, seemingly confused look, and it moved on to a wall, which it began to drill through with it's serrate, rotating jaws.

It must have thought Rafael was a potential meal, at first. Then, it ignored him. Like everyone in his life did. Maybe if he's family didn't ignore him, he would be at home, instead of waiting for the Bots to pick him up when it happened. Maybe he could have been with his family, as it should have been.

Rafael Esquivel didn't like being ignored and he was sick of being so!

With as much of a cry of rage as he could muster, the boy picked up a stick of metal and pounded the vermin repeatedly until it was a smashed piece of scrap. It had taken over ten erratic strikes to do the trick. The boy only stopped when his thin arms begged him to.

The heat of the moment passed, Rafael became without focus. He didn't want to sit back down and mope, as the anger that possessed him still left an aftertaste. Yet he didn't feel like doing anything else. He just wanted to…to just close his eyes and be back home. Home with his familia.

Something glinting caught his eye. A piece of the creature's rotating jaw, sharp and shiny, remained intact. Bereft of thought, the boy picked it up and examined it passionlessly. Maybe, if he could…just one cut and…maybe he could be with his family again.

"Raf?"

He stopped still and turned to see Jack Darby. The older boy looked weary. "Bee sounded like he was worried and asked to…" Jack's gaze sharpened. "Raf, what are you doing?"

Raf's mouth moved but no words came out. He looked at the sharp piece of metal like he had just realized he was holding it.

"Raf, please, put that down." Jack pleaded, slow and steady, as he walked towards his friend.

Rafael whimpered. He dropped the blade before dropping himself on his knees, wailing. Jack rushed to his side.

"Raf, you okay?"

"NO! I'M NOT OKAY! I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO SEE MY PARENTS, MY SIBLINGS!" at that point, the youngest was crying his soul out, again. This time it was Jack rather than Bee consoling him. "I j-just want things… to go ba-back to normal."

"I know." Jack muttered, wishing for the same but not saying it. He allowed Raf to let it all out. The two stood there in embrace for nobody knows how long.

"What are we going to do now?" The younger boy finally asked after he mustered the strength to ask.

Finally, Jack declared. "I don't know what comes next…but we have to keep going." He prayed to God he knew how, though.

"And for what?!" Raf became agitated. "Optimus promised he would protect our world. And he failed! The Bots couldn't save anyone! So what's the point?" He hugged his legs, shrinking in on himself.

The older boy went into quiet contemplation. Truth was, he felt the same. But he didn't want to. Nor did he want his friends to just give up either. He had to carry their hope for Rafael. Even if said hope was probably an illusion.

"Because you're not alone. You have me and Miko and Bee. And all of Team Prime. We're family. Now more than ever."

Raf's mood seemed slightly lifted by that but returned to his silence. Jack stuck around with him; after what he had stumbled upon he wasn't going to let Raf out of his sight.

Before long, Bumblebee came over to tell something. Jack, obviously, didn't understand. So Rad translated:

"Optimus and Wheeljack have arrived."

Darkmount, Nevada.

Megatron's first official act was naming the spire that served as his new HQ 'Darkmount'. Atop of its new seat of power, the warlord watched the sun setting from his throne. Behind him was his recently re-instituted second-in-command delivering a report.

"Soundwave's report is conclusive enough, my liege. Human communications and broadcasts have ceased completely. Our heat sensors detect no human or any organic activity on the surface of the planet. It would appear the cyberforming was a success…in spite of its interruption." Starscream wide smirk, which had been present since he began delivering the report, faltered a little. His optics traveled to Megatron's right arm, still missing from the elbow down. A result of his battle with Optimus while the Prime was desperately attempting to reach the Omega Lock.

"Noted." Megatron did not look at him. Starscream was disappointed to see the lack of interest from his master.

"Uh…and the drones are still excavating the remains of the Autobot base." He casually turned his optics to the destroyed missile silo that had been their enemies' refuge. "No Autobot husk has been uncovered yet, but I believe we will in the fullness of time find them…"

"You believe wrong, Starscream. Optimus certainly sent his team to a safe location before escaping with the Wrecker. Whose ship, need I remind you, you failed to shoot down." Despite the accusation, Megatron didn't turn his infamous menacing glare on him. Still, Starscream lost his stead and quickly spoke to appease his master.

"On the other hand we dug out an old wretched acquaintance, Airachnid. Trapped in a stasis pod."

"Not too surprising. Optimus would be doing a favor to the Universe had he offlined her. Put her in vault until further order." Starscream transmitted the order and waited for his Lord's reaction but there was none. It took him more than a minute to muster the nerve to ask:

"My liege, forgive me for interrupting your thoughts but, I could not help but notice you seem…not quite as joyous as you would normally be after a victory. Especially a victory of this magnitude." He made a gesture with his talooned hand to indicate the cyberformed world around them. "You have conquered a planet, eliminated those organic pests and driven the Autobots on the run. They will never stand up again against us."

"Wrong again, Starscream. This victory may be a crushing blow to the Autobots their love for their pets, but Optimus will be more determined than ever to win this war. I can see what the near future has in store for us. The War for Cybertron may have ended long ago, but the war for this world begins now. The victory we had today marks not an end, but a beginning. The Autobots likely all survived, and with a handful of relics. I will not grow complacent over this!" Megatron raised from the throne and walked to the center. An holographic display of a map appeared, showcasing the north american continent.

"Gather 90% of our worker drones and split them into three units. You, Knock Out and Soundwave will each take charge of one and supervise construction of bases and settlements all across the surrounding areas." a holographic map appeared between the Decepticons. Three red dots were marked in states surrounding Nevada. One in the coast of California, the other two eastern of Darkmount. "I want an energon refinery on the coast. A mining complex in this spot, our scanners say it is potentially rich with precious alloys. A listening post even further eastern. And I want them operational at full capacity before the stellar cycle is out."

That was the equivalent of an Earth year. An arduous deadline to keep, especially if the facilities in question were to be as grand as Megatron wanted them. Yet, Starscream (as always) was in no position to argue. He hurriedly flew down from the tower to make the preparations.

Megatron returned to his thoughtful watch of the sunset. Already plotting how to exploit this advantage, how to advance once the new facilities were built, or discerning where the Autobots could be taking refuge, now.

Just a few cycles before, this victory felt like the final one. His ultimate triumph over his enemies and the beginning of his new empire without any obstacles. Alas, his nemesis still functioned. And the war would begin a new chapter on this world. Megatron was not about to allow the Autobots to seize any advantage.

A distant but loud sound echoed in the sky above, drawing Megatron from his thoughts. The sky had darkened considerably. Megatron was roughly aware of this planet's climatic idiosyncrasies. The clouds that blocked the sun were, however, of a bluish hue rather than gray. In a matter of moments it started falling liquid. Rain, he believed the humans had called it. Truly, he had never cared at all about it. This planet's ridiculous humidity was harmless for the resilient alloys that Cybertronians were made of. Rusting was never an issue.

However, feeling the liquid on his frame, he could tell it was not water. "Knock Out, are you aware of what is happening outside?" he commed the vane medic.

"Indeed, my liege. My instruments picked up a rainstorm coming, so I took shelter in my laboratory. H2O can be such a…"

Megatron barked. "Then come out and analyze the chemical nature of this precipitation. Even by physical touch I can tell it is not water!" the medic stuttered a complying response and went to do so. Of course, one as vain about his finish as Knock Out would fear something as banal as water.

He got up from his throne, walked to the edge of the platform. This 'rain' was certainly not water. It was too greasy and it actually felt pleasant falling and flowing upon his frame.

Right on cue, Knock Out commed him. "My liege, I have a rudimentary analysis - and allow me to say, this is most astonishing - but what is descending from the atmosphere is mostly energon. A very crude grade of energon, barely worth the effort of refining."

Megatron hummed. Unrefined or not, it was interesting. "You said 'mostly'."

Knock Out sounded excited when he replied. "Well, from what I can tell, aside from other elements in negligible quantities, it's also a concoction of simple oil and anti-rust lubricant."

Megatron almost, almost did a double-take. "Those are the ingredients of…"

"Ding! Ding! Ding! A simple but soothing oil bath! I am partaking in it myself, sir. Quite a natural luxury."

Oil baths were a luxury not all could afford on Cybertron before the war. Even less could when the conflict escalated. Megatron himself, whether as a miner, gladiator, societal reject or warlord, could count the oil baths he had taken in his life with just one hand. Even if he could afford one after taking power, it reminded him too much of the pampering the elites would indulge in so too often. And now that he had one, it felt…good. Pleasant, even. Invigorating!

He could see the dirt, dust and grime of recent battles being chased away from his armor. The scars didn't fade but recovered the shine that was lost when each strike was inflicted upon him. It looked as if he was in a new frame. Like he was being reborn.

Rebirth. Something else that Megatron had experienced a handful of times. The first and foremost had been so long ago, after his first victory on the gladiatorial arena. When his opponent fell, the first of many to come, the slave numbered 'D-16' had been reborn as 'Megatronus'.

'I still function!' he had shouted to the adoring crowd.

In the present, Megatron felt that same jubilation of youth coursing through him. He lifted his arms to the heavens. "I STILL FUNCTION!"

By the Primes, that felt good!

"Optimus, you cost me Cybertron by prolonging the war until it became a tomb. If you are now fully committed to stop me, I will be even more committed to end you. By destroying the Omega Lock, Cybertron is lost forever nor will I be able to conquer other worlds. This brand new world and everything on it is MINE! You will not take it from me! You will never take this from me!"

OMAKE:

"I STILL FUNCTION!"

Down below, the working Vehicons halted momentarily, hearing their lord's shout.

"What's wrong with the boss, now? He sounds like he's riding the biggest orgasm of his life." one asked, picking up debris of the Autobot base.

"He's probably thinking about topping Prime, or something." another one replied with a shrug.

"Heh! I think 'topping Prime' and 'orgasming' are mutually inclusive for the big 'M'." the first drone joked.

"I HEARD THAT, STEVE!" Megatron's voice echoed like thunder. "YOU BETTER SHAPE UP OR YOU'LL BE SCRAPPING SPACE BARNACLES UNTIL THE NEXT SOLAR CYCLE!"