A/N: Hey there, everybody! Welcome back to Transformers MHA and… well, I think I might've underestimated the size and scope of this little "break story" when I first conceptualized it. I figured that it'd be a quick little 2-parter, but upon reevaluation… I think this arc might have to go for THREE chapters instead. That probably lends to me putting a bit more priority on Ben 10/RWBY at the moment (I'm pretty focused on the season premier), but I think having it be 3 parts ultimately WILL work better. Sure, we'll be in space for longer than anticipated, but hey, what better way to get to know these characters more, eh? Before we begin, though, a brief recap on the Kimia crew so far;

Brainstorm – Based on IDW in appearance, voiced by J.K. Simmons (and as a result, has a bit of Portal's Cave Johnson injected into his personality.)

Proxima – Also based on her IDW appearance, voiced by Ellen McLain (the voice of Caroline/GladOS from Portal)

Apelinq – Based on his BotCon appearance, voiced by Crispin Freeman (Winston from Overwatch)

Okay, so now that we've got that out of the way, let's start this 3-parter off, shall we? This is…

Chapter 63: Of Speed and Science, Part 1

…..

Space. The Final Frontier. A seemingly never-ending void of blackness, stars and countless numbers of planets. A place where humanity could only dream of exploring… if they weren't so preoccupied with the emergence Quirks. It is deep within this vast expanse where the Kimia Space Colony travels through, its thrusters bringing it through the galaxy at a leisurely pace. The immense vessel, which in reality was, in fact, a Titan, had been pointed in a single direction and was not intent on stopping until she reached her destination; Earth. The planet where Optimus Prime had apparently landed.

Many of the Autobots and organic alien species on board couldn't believe it when they first heard the news. A planet in what was essentially the space boonies was where the Last Prime had ended up! No one could've guessed! But of course, their celebrating was no excuse to slack off. In fact, it only motivated them further into their scientific research. This planet was obviously where the war would continue to be fought, and if they could gain footing over the Decepticons there, then they could maybe extend that toward taking back Cybertron… through SCIENCE! And, on the bridge of the space craft itself, the Kimia's captain was currently sitting in his chair, recording an auditory account of the day's progress;

"Captain's Log, Star Date; I forgot about a millennia ago." Brainstorm rested his chin against his hand, leaning against the armrest of his chair as his optics gazed out the ship's front window. "Our progress toward the planet Earth has been steady and even. Thankfully, since recalibrating our cloaking fields, no Decepticons have been able to find us, though we still avoid any planets where we can in case any Cons are nearby." The genius cracked a smile behind his faceplate. "But, even at our fixed pace, we're all eagerly anticipating the day we arrive on this planet. With any luck, this will be a place where the Autobots can finally recoup after taking such devastating losses during the War for Cybertron. And, through developing our technology, we can surely take our home back from the tyrannical rule of Megatron…"

"Brainstorm, sir!" a gruff bot announced from below the captain's deck. "We've got a situation down here. Requesting your input."

Cutting off his recording, Brainstorm stood and flexed his neck, popping a few gears to loosen himself up. "I'm comin', I'm comin'…" Proceeding down the steps to the lower bridge level, the Kimia's captain approached the central console, where three rather large bots were waiting for him. "Alright, Railspike, what's the situation?"

Before him, a massive Autobot stood up, his height easily dwarfing Brainstorm at least three times over. His two associates were just as big, if not slightly more. The bot, Railspike, seemed to be on the older side, especially given his blue, scruffy, metallic beard. His helm was also blue and sloped forward with a white forehead, his optics gleaming red underneath. His shoulders, however, were wide and sloped down near the ends, while his arms and legs were relatively blocky by comparison. On his chest was the green canopy of his vehicle mode, though not much else indicated what he transformed into. "We're getting more complaints about people being found podded up, sir." the grizzled Autobot replied.

"Oh, for the love of—HOW is this still happening?!" Brainstorm exclaimed. "We fumigated Spheres 7 through 18 over the past decacycle! Rapid Run, any ideas?"

The Autobot next to Railspike answered him. He was a tall, mostly black and grey bot who was much more squarely built than his compatriot, with blocky shoulders and a thinner frame. The only part of him that was rounded in some way was his chest, which was the entire front of his alt mode. And it was there that things became slightly clearer on what they transformed into, as he wore the entire front end of a bullet train on his chest. "Not sure, man." Rapid Run shook his yellow-helmed head, donned with a faceplate and green optics. "Pretty sure Hot Spot an' his team were pretty thorough."

"Well, signs indicate that they weren't thorough ENOUGH, then." Brainstorm concluded, shaking his head at the young bot. "Get them in here. I wanna have a word with them."

"Er, about that, sir…" Spoke the last bullet train Autobot, who was still sitting at his station. He spoke with a light English accent that has a bit of a tremble to it, as if he always had a nervous tone. His blue and white color scheme matched Railspike in a way, though he had a splash of additional yellow to it as well. He had a pair of long panels sticking out his shoulders and undoubtedly had the LARGEST legs out of his companions, a pair of blue pillars with his feet made out of the front and rear ends of his alt. mode. His chest, though, was completely flat and featureless aside from a few paint apps.

Brainstorm nudged his chin toward the largest bot. "What's that, Midnight Express? Speak up."

"W-Well, um, I've been attempting to contact the Protectobots for some time now, b-but they haven't been responding…" Midnight Express stammered out.

With a sigh, Brainstorm brought a hand to his face. "Hah, things can never be easy. Okay, bring their signals up on the map, I'll go find them myself."

Midnight Express hastily did as was asked and brought up the schematics of the Kimia, where six red blips came up towards the lower decks of the ship. "A-Ah-ha! There they are, I—wait… this is strange."

Rapid Run seemed just as confused. "Bro, you sure that's where they are? Why would they be in the engine room?"

"Seems a bit suspicious." Railspike scratched his beard curiously. "Why would Hot Spot and his crew be down in there? None of 'em are engineers, I think."

"That's what I'm gonna go find out." Brainstorm asserted. "But first…" He rushed back up to his captain's chair and pressed a button on the armrest, causing a small microphone to pop up for him to speak into;

*ZZKT*

"Attention all passengers, Brainstorm here. Just a quick update on all those pods we were finding in broom closets. Apparently, some alien monster's been body-snatching employees and spawning Functionist replicas. The allegorical threat level of this is through the roof! …Actual threat levels to Cybertronians, however, was pretty nonexistent, so we haven't been doing much about it 'til now. Unfortunately, with the Protectobots now M.I.A., that's changed. I'm ordering all hands on deck with this one. Proxima, I want you, Apelinq, Glyph and Tap-Out to meet me down in the engine room ASAP. Though to be quite honest, if the worst this thing can do is gestate glassy-eyed Yes Men, I say bring it on, Bug Eyes! I've got a whole list of troublemakers you can pod up anytime ya like! …Otherwise, business as usual. Brainstorm, we're done here."

*ZZKT*

*ZZKT*

"Oh, and uh, note for the cafeteria staff, could we lay OFF the Soylent Green? I got a memo this morning that says Soylent Green is, let's see here… DOUBLING in price. Now listen up, I don't care HOW good people tastes. This stuff is costing me more than Flobster, so we're going back to fish sticks. That is all."

*ZZKT*

With his messages done, Brainstorm peered down to the three bots below… who were all staring incredulously at him. "Uh… Brain?" Railspike questioned. "Is this thing really spawning Functionist replicas?"

"Psh, I dunno." Brainstorm shrugged. "But hey, it's as good an excuse as any to make sure people stay away from whatever's on this freight with us. Now come on, Team Bullet Train. We need to get down to that engine room, toot sweet."

…..

Several cycles later and the four of them arrived in the lower decks via elevator, disembarking the lift slowly and carefully while keeping their optics peeled for anything suspicious. Though the dim, red lighting didn't exactly help them in that regard. Fortunately, though, they didn't have to go far until they came across Apelinq and Proxima, the two standing near a wall that had rows of pipes leading down the hall. "Brainstorm, sir." Apelinq greeted first. "Glad you made it so quick."

"Apelinq! Good to see you get out of your room for a change." The brainiac pat his pupil's shoulder with a nod. "Any sign of the thing?"

"Not yet, sir." Proxima shook her head. "And no sign of the Protectobots either. But do you really think that this alien would've come down here?"

"You kidding, Proxima? It's probably the best place it could run to!" Brainstorm assured. "Considering how warm and toasty it is down here, I bet once we fumigated those spheres, it scurried down here faster than a Stunticon with its rear end on fire."

The femme hummed thoughtfully, agreeing with his conclusion. "Fair point. But still, how do you hope to actually catch this beast, whatever it is?"

Brainstorm raised a single finger and winked. "I'll tell you once our secret weapon arrives."

This made Apelinq's eyebrows raise up in surprise, the ape Maximal taking note of which ones were still absent. "You mean… Glyph and Tap-Out?"

"Exactly." Placing his hands on his hips, Brainstorm craned his head back toward the elevator expectantly. "Now where are they? They're stationed in Science Sphere 11, so they should've been here by now."

"Ah, you know Glyph, Brain." Rapid Run said a small chuckle. "She's probably goin' every which way but up, all nervoused like she usually is when you ask for her."

With a heavy sigh, Brainstorm shook his head. "That little bot's way too apprehensive for her own good. Her research is sound, now if only she can build up her confidence IN that research." He folded his arms over his chest. "Hopefully Tap-Out can at least expedite her along."

Proxima rolled her optics and stepped next to her boss, placing her hands behind her back. "I'm sure she'll be along eventually…" *DING* "Oh, what do you know? Sooner than you expected."

The double doors slid open and revealed two very similar Cybertronian vehicles, both of them very rounded toward the rear and with sloped roofs that led toward ridged bumpers. One was a deep marine blue with some yellow detailing while the other was a simple deep olive green. The duo drove in and transformed into their robot modes, which, while also similar to one another, had distinct differences.

*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt*

Their transformations were basically the same; their rooves forming the chest, front end forming the legs and feet, and the rear and sides becoming their shoulders and arms. However, the blue Autobot was much lither and more curved in proportion compared to her boxy and heavier-built counterpart, giving them the distinction between male and female. The blue one also had curved shoulder pads and a rounder helm, whereas the green bot had boxy shoulders and a somewhat squarer helm, though both of them had stubby horns on top of their helmet. Finally, the femme's secondary color for soft facial features was a golden yellow with optics to match, meanwhile the mech had silver, more rugged features and blue optics.

The mech spoke first as he strode forward confidently, all while his partner stumbled behind him. "Sorry we're late. We got a bit held up."

"No worries, Tap-Out." Brainstorm assured. "You're actually right on time. We just arrived." He set his sights to the femme—Glyph—next. "I'm just happy that you both made it. Good to see you, Glyph."

"S-S-Sir!" The young femme saluted with a stammer. "It's g-good to see you too. Again, sorry that we're so late, it's just—"

"BRAINSTORM!"

Everything went on pause as another feminine voice was heard from the elevator, making everyone whip their heads up. "…She insisted on coming with us." Glyph finished.

The captain of the Kimia looked up… and wasn't thrilled by who he saw. "Oh… scrap baskets."

Moving swiftly over toward them was a tall femme with an hourglass figure… though she had no legs. Rather, she had a single mono-leg that was attached to a hover platform at the bottom which made her float a mere centimeter above the floor. Aside from that, however, she was built like any other bot. She was mostly a grassy green color with a pale yellow in her arms, though her fingers were also green. Her head was oval-shaped and was only green on either side, with a thick, yellow strip going down the center of her face which allowed her green lips to stick out. Her blue optics were almond-shaped and she had a big, orange light at the center of her forehead, though her most notable feature was that she lacked a helm entirely. Instead, she had a large, green, leaf-shaped hood that attached to her neck and stook up behind her head, giving her a regal appearance.

Also, it wasn't clear what she transformed into, though given the VTOL fans on her; one on each shoulder and another set on her hips, it was clear that she transformed into something that could fly. All four fans were each nestled inside a panel what was primarily dull orange, but had wedge-shaped yellow tips that stuck up at her shoulders and down at her waist. And of course, she wore her Autobot sigil prominently on her chest.

Apelinq's optics widened at the sight of her. "B-Botanica! What're you—mph!"

Before he could say anymore, the femme—Botanica—placed a finger to his lips, giving him a warning glare. "Shush, Apelinq. I require Brainstorm's FULL attention." she spoke with a delicate yet prominent accent, her R's rolling slightly along her tongue. She spun around so that her glare was now directed at the head of the science colony, hovering over to him with one fist clenched at her side while pointing an accusing finger at him. "As for YOU! What in the WORLD are you thinking?!"

"…Heh, well, I mean, that's a fair question, I guess." Brainstorm rubbed his chin whilst smirking proudly behind his faceplate. "Not many bots can tell what I'm thinking most of the time, so—"

"You are dodging the question!" Botanica berated, poking Brainstorm's faceplate and making him recoil. "The upper decks are in a PANIC because of that announcement you made!"

"O-Okay, okay, listen, I knew that there'd be SOME people upset about this…" Brainstorm raised his hands defensively. "But what else do you want me to do? I mean, with prices going up these days, SOME things are liable to get cut and Soylent Green is—"

Botanica's features twisted into a wrathful snarl as she brought her hands together and began… creating something from them. Between her fingertips, a string of hard light was seen before she began twisting and contorting it into a vague shape, which then took solid form as a floating turret that flew above her head and took aim at Brainstorm. "NOT THAT, you ignoramus! I speak of the ALIEN!"

With the turret's laser sights directed right at him, Brainstorm paused, yet kept his hands raised. "Oh… you mean that."

"Yes. That." Botanica put a hand to her head, shaking it in disapproval. "What could have POSSIBLY compelled you to announce such a thing to the passengers when we know next to nothing about this creature aside from it podding people up?"

Clearing his throat, Brianstorm regained his composure and explained himself. "Well, if you must know WHY I did it, it's so that the passengers would all stay as far AWAY from this creature as possible." He walked past her with his hands behind his back, though once he did, he raised a single finger. "HOWEVER… you're only half-right in saying we know next to nothing about it. Because all of those people in pods we keep finding have one thing in common."

Botanica raised an eyeridge at the declaration. "And that is?"

"That they all came out of it heavily drained of their energy." Replied the head scientist. "Both physically and mentally. Their bodies and minds were left completely exhausted from just doing nothing. And if this thing affect Cybertronians like it does organics, then we need to find the Protectobots STAT."

It was then that Railspike stepped forward, reaching out an imploring hand. "Botanica, I get that you don't really agree with much of Brainstorm's strategies half the time, but he's got a point." the grizzled bot reasoned. "We don't want anyone else onboard this ship getting podded up and drained, so let's act now before that happens, yeah?"

Pursing her lips, Botanica was still unsure about the whole thing. "W-Well… why bring Glyph in on this?" The botanist gestured over to the cryogenic expert, who seemed to shy away at the question. "You know she isn't one for these types of situations."

"Perhaps… but I was hoping that her abilities in flash freezing would be of good use here." Brainstorm explained. "After all, given its nature to trap its prey in pods, we're no doubt dealing with an insectoid alien who'll freeze instantly in the cold. So if we can put it on ice…"

"Then we can capture and study it safely." Glyph finished in a whisper, her optics shifting down toward her hands. After a few moments of thought, her expression hardened and she brought up her faceplate and visor, puffing out her chest bravely. "O-Okay, sir! I'll do it!"

This made Botanica and Tap-Out's optics widen in shock. "G-Glyph!" the green femme hovered over and leaned down so she was eye-level with her. "Are you certain about this?"

"Glyph, hon, just say the word and I'll pummel this alien freak for ya." Tap-Out offered, briefly slamming his fist into his palm before coming forward and putting his hands to her shoulder. "Ya don't have to get yourself involved in something so dangerous—"

But the young femme held her hand up, giving Tap-Out's a light squeeze. "Tap, my sweet, you've gotten me out of so many scrapes in the past. It's time I return the favor. For you, and everyone else on this ship." Her free hand transformed into a Cryo-Gun, a light blue freezing energy generating at its core. "I'll be fine… because I know I have so many of my friends here with me."

Brainstorm pumped his arm encouragingly at her. "That's the spirit, Glyph! I like your grit! Now, let's see some hustle to go along with it!"

"Right! Let's go catch us a bug monster."

*GYAAAAAUUUUURRRRGHH!*

In a single second, every Autobot was chilled to their very spark. The horrible shrieking noise they'd just heard instantly made them all group up on one another, some letting out frightful screams while others yelled in surprise. However, they all stood back-to-back in a circle, keeping their guards up while bringing out whatever weapons they had. Tap-Out's hands produced a pair of brass knuckles with his name molded in on them, Apelinq reached onto his back and brought out his Tesla Cannon, Brainstorm aimed his shoulder-mounted guns out into the darkness, and Team Bullet Train all unslung their own long-barreled rifles, with Rapidrun also arming himself with a large shield.

"W-Woah!" the youngest of Team Bullet Train exclaimed. "What the Pit was THAT?!"

"That… was our stowaway." Brainstorm deduced. "And whatever this thing is… it's gotta be BIG." He peered over his shoulder to see Botanica bringing her hands together, forming more of her spherical turrets. "So, we gonna keep arguing or are we in this together?"

The botanist wore a frustrated expression before sighing, shaking her head in defeat. "Very well, Brainstorm, I will concede THIS time." All the same, she pointed a stern finger at him. "But be warned; I will NOT tolerate your foolishness in this operation. We must be smart about this."

Brainstorm deadpanned at that. "…Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"GRR!" Throwing her hands up, Botanica sent all of her turrets out and they automatically mounted themselves upon the walls. "Let us just go already!"

"Now that, we can agree on. Come on, people… the hunt begins."

…..

Several cycles had gone by as the group proceeded slowly and steadily through the engine room corridors, many of them using their headlights to brighten their way through the dim room. Still, the dull red lighting around them didn't help their visibility any more. In fact, as they went deeper and deeper, the area only got increasingly darker. Thankfully, though, they didn't have to go far before they stumbled across the first sign that they were getting close to their quarry…

*ssshhlick* "AH!" Proxima gasped and doubled back as she stepped in something that oozed out from under her foot, backing up into Brainstorm who stopped and held her in support. He shined a light down to her foot… and what they saw made the whole team grimace in disgust. It was a thick, green, gooey slime that slowly trickled off of her in thick globs, the mere sight of it making Proxima shout while trying to shake it off her leg. "Agh! Disgusting!"

"Hm, very vile, indeed." Botanica used her fingers to create a hard light container, catching some of the ooze in order to do an analysis on it later. "But perhaps this could be useful in finding a way to fight the creature…"

*tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink*

A collective gasp rang out as the Autobots set their sights up to the ceiling, shining their lights toward the pipework above. "S-Something's scurrying up there!" Apelinq bellowed nervously, keeping his Tesla Cannon at the ready.

"Don't be so hasty, young bot." Brainstorm warned. "You bringing a lightning gun down into the engine room isn't exactly what I'd call a good move."

"Oh… yeah, you're right." The Maximal put his weapon back in favor of a pair of large maces that he kept stored at his hips. "I suppose a more… primitive form of combat is better in this case."

"Well, you ARE a gorilla, Apelinq." Midnight Express pointed out. "If we have to go so far as to beat this bug into submission, you'd probably be the best one to do it."

That earned the bullet train bot a narrow-eyed look from Apelinq. "Says the bot who can probably squash ANYTHING with those clod-hoppers of yours."

Midnight Express did a doubletake and let out an offended gasp. "AH! I'll have you know that I take great pride in my "clod-hoppers", good sir! After all, I have Leg duties to uphold!"

"Yeah, well, we won't be doing ANY combining down in here, little brother." Railspike rebuked, bringing up his green-barreled laser gun. "Passageways are FAR too narrow for the big guy to even stand down here. Now, keep your mouths shut and follow me. We're getting close…"

"Right behind ya, big bro." Rapid Run acknowledged, keeping his shield high.

As they continued forward, however, Tap-Out couldn't help but get a whiff of something… unpleasant. "Snf-snf…eugh! Anybody else smell that?" the Mini-Bot gagged.

Glyph gave a couple sniffed herself and immediately plugged her scent-sensors. "Agh! Yes, I do! What is that horrible stench!"

Botanica, Proxima and the others all followed her lead, deactivating their sense of smell temporarily. "It must be the creature." the botanist concluded. "We are getting very close…"

"Yeah, pretty evident if ya ask me." Brainstorm said, having wandered a fair bit away from the group further down the hall. "Come look at what I came across!" The team all jogged over to Brainstorm as he shined his light upon the wall… and what they saw next made their jaws drop.

Six green pods, all roughly oval-shaped and covered with the same green slime that Proxima stepped in. The material that made up the pods themselves was a slightly darker green slime, though rather than a vicious fluid, this slime was much more solid, and was even somewhat transparent. The six pods had different variations in proportion; four middle-sized ones, a single small one, and finally, another one that was very large and at the very center of the group. It was enough to make the Autobots' insides churn, but even then, they had a good idea of what this was.

"Are… are these the Protectobots?" Glyph asked hesitantly.

"No doubt in my mind." Brainstorm affirmed, stepping closer to climb up the pods. "Come on, let's get 'em down!"

"S-Sir, wait!" Proxima advised. "We should—"

*squish* "Er, what's that, Proxima?" Brainstorm asked as he touched the cocoon, ready to tear it open. "I couldn't hear you over how loud this goop is."

*GYAAAAAUUUUURRRRGHH!*

Once again, the group were met with the same harrowing shriek that they had heard before… only now, it was MUCH closer. *splat* "A-Agh! What the—" Whipping his hand up to his head, Brainstorm wiped off whatever fell on top of his helm… but when he pulled it back, he saw that it was even more of the green goop. Slowly and with a slight tremble, he craned his head toward the ceiling. And there, in the darkness behind the pipework… was a HUGE pair of glowing red insectoid eyes. "…Oh scrap—AAAUUGH!"

Like a massive avalanche, all of the pipes suddenly broke and came tumbling down onto all of them, forcing some bots to leap away while others were left helpless. Apelinq, Rapid Run, Glyph and Tap-Out managed to do the former, but one look behind them, and they instantly wished they hadn't. Because now… they were confronted by a horrifying monstrosity.

The alien insect was enormous, towering over everyone except for Rapid Run himself. …Because it was just about AS big as him. Its four hind legs were long and spindly, while its forceps were massive and bladed like huge scythes. Its abdomen was long, bulbous, and curved inward toward its thorax, and it had two sets of dual wings which helped it keep aloft. Finally, its head was very much mosquito-like, for in addition to its big, red eyes, it had a long, sharp proboscis that dripped with the same green ooze that was now covering their friends.

*GYAAAAAUUUUURRRRGHH!*

The creature's mandibles broke out into different directions as it roared at the four Autobots, spewing more ooze from its teeth-ridden mouth. Glyph immediately let out a scream and clung to Tap-Out for security. "GYAAAAAH! W-W-WHAT IS IT?!"

*BLA…BLA…BLARKBARGH!*

The bellow that came from the beast, while extremely terrifying, was also what gave Tap-Out the inspiration to name it. "Er, um… I guess it's a "Blark-Barg"?"

"Whatever it is, don't let it get away!" Brainstorm called out, waving his finger out from under the mound of scrap. "Autobots! Engage the Blark-Barg!" On that note, Railspike and Midnight Express both flexed their arms up and managed to throw the rubble off of them, causing the Blark-Barg to fly up quickly back into the rafters. "Get back here, you menace!" Brainstorm aimed his twin shoulder blasters up, setting them to stun before firing at the giant bug. "I want that thing alive for study!"

"Glyph! Can your cryogun reach from here?" Rapid Run asked.

But the blue Mini-Bot shook her head. "N-N-No… I'm too far. A-And besides… I… I-I don't know if—"

"Glyph." Apelinq turned back to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring gaze. "If I help you up there and promise that I won't let that thing hurt you, do you think you can find the courage to fight?"

"I-I-I…" Glyph herself wasn't sure. 'I'm a scientist, not a warrior… I've never had to be put into a situation like THIS before!' She put her head between her hands and screwed her eyes shut, lowering her head as the pressure started to crank up within her. "I-I… I can't… I…"

But then, a soft, familiar touch brushed against her hand, snapping her out of her terror. "Babe." Glyph brought her optics up and met those of her beloved Tap-Out, the mech smiling down brightly to her. "I know, it's scary. Believe me, I'm just as scared as you are. But right now, we need YOU to help get this thing under control." He squeezed her hand, letting her know he wasn't about to leave. "How 'bout this? I'll go up there with ya. Let's help Apelinq take this disgustin' thing to the scrapheap, eh?"

All at once, Glyph suddenly felt a major boost in confidence, her expression brightening up as she opened her hands and brought Tap-Out into a short embrace. "Hah, you always know how to lift me up, Tap." She took a deep intake of are and slapped her hands to her cheeks, solidifying her resolve. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Great! Excellent pep talk!" Brainstorm exclaimed as he and the others began to get divebombed by the Blark-Barg. "Now would PLEASE hurry so we can get this thing on ice!"

"We're coming, sir!" Apelinq shouted back. "Beast Mode!" Letting out a mechanical roar, the Maximal took to his gorilla mode, beating his silvery chest with his teeth barred and ready for action. "Glyph, Tap-Out, climb on!" The couple immediately hopped onto Apelinq's back… which he didn't seem too crazy about. "O-Oh, um, sorry, I should've been more specific. Hang on."

*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-chkt*

Unexpectedly, the parts that formed Apelinq's lower legs in robot mode folded out from the back of his ape mode legs and reconfigured themselves… into a hoverboard. Within seconds, Apelinq took to the air and he set the couple down on either end of the board, which took them both off guard. "Huh… ya know, I keep forgettin' you can do this." Tap-Out admitted.

Glyph, however, took it in stride as she stood up, transforming her arm back into her cryogun. "This is perfect! Apelinq, let's go!"

"On it!" Blasting forward, the trio practically rammed themselves straight toward the insect creature, forcing it to retreat further down the corridor.

If anything, however, that just made Proxima all the more worried. "Ah! No! It's headed toward one of the main engines! If it does anything there…"

"We're on the trail!" Apelinq shouted, boosting his way through the hall and after the beast. "You guys get the Protectobots! We're gonna take this thing down!"

"Be careful!" Botanica called out, her optics shifting toward the pods as her hand started to transform. From her wrist, a four-pronged, claw-like weapon with a glowing energy core emerged, the "claw" part rotating as energy generated within it. She took aim and the weapon began to spin faster, resulting in a stream of energy shooting out of the claw and carefully slicing through the pods one by one, freeing the Autobots trapped inside. Once all six Protectobots were freed, she gave a nod up to Railspike. "I trust you and your team can get them to the medical bay?"

"Of course, Botanica." Railspike gestured for his brothers to follow his lead, lifting up the Protectobots two at a time each. "We'll get someone to take a look at 'em. We'll try to get back down here as soon as possible."

However, Brainstorm raised a hand. "No, Railspike. I want you three to report back to the bridge… just in case things don't go the way we're hoping."

The other Autobots all eyed him in concern. "Sir… what do you mean?" Proxima asked hesitantly.

The genius' expression hardened behind his faceplate. "I… don't know, Proxima. I just have a bad feeling in the back of my mind. It feels like something's about to—" *RUMBLE* A sudden, violent shaking cut Brainstorm off and forced everyone to brace themselves against something as the room around them trembled suddenly, leading the ship's Headmaster to whip his head down the hall. "…do that."

…..

Further down in the chamber, Apelinq, Glyph and Tap-Out were still in hot pursuit of the Blark-Barg, the creature bobbing and weaving through the tunnels seamlessly as the trio attempted to keep up. It wasn't until they came upon one of the main engines that the creature landed on a wall, having to take a breather, that the Autobots were able to catch up. "Haha! Got it cornered!" Tap-Out slammed his fists together eagerly. "Apelinq, gimme a toss! I wanna soften this thing up a bit for my gal!"

The robot gorilla's optics widened at that. "Y-You sure?!"

"Apelinq, don't worry." Glyph smiled back toward her beloved. "He usually does this alone, but now… we're going to do it together!"

Tap-Out pumped a fist at her encouragement. "Frag yeah! Let's do it, babe!"

While still unsure about the move tactically, Apelinq knew that there'd be no changing either's mind once they've settled on something. "Not sure I get it, but… if you insist!" Reaching down and grabbing them by their backs, Apelinq began spinning around in midair using his hoverboard, building up significant momentum. Then, once he felt like he reached his peak speed, he threw Tap-Out first. "GO!"

"GRAAAHH!" Drawing back his fist, the green Mini-Bot let out a loud battle cry as he collided with the Blark-Barg's face, punching it as hard as he could and knocking it off the wall. "Now, Apelinq! It's Glyph's time!"

On command, the ape threw his blue-plated compatriot as the Blark-Barg fell, allowing her to aim her cryogun down at it. "Freeze! Don't move!" she shouted before unleashing the icy beam down at it…

…But, much to her surprise, the beast was able to extend its abdomen and shoot out more green ooze from its rear, doing so at such a massive force that it propelled itself out of the way. The freeze ray missed completely… and, as a result, hit one of the engines instead. *RUM-RUM-RUM-RUMBLE* "AH! NO!" Glyph screamed.

"Glyph! Hang on!" Tap-Out rushed forward and went into a slide, catching her in his arms. "A-Are you okay?"

"I am… but the engines aren't!" Glyph watched as the Blark-Barg flew high above the engines and scurried toward a large hole in the ceiling, no doubt intent on escaping. But, before it did, it seemed to intentionally look back down at them… before spewing even more of its green goop into the engine as well, further damaging it before escaping. "NO! We can't let it leave! Apelinq, we need to—"

"Oooooh…" The couple whipped their heads up to their Maximal friend… only to be met with a very dizzy bot. "Euuugh… c-can we get off the wild ride, Brainstorm? Oooh…"

Glyph and Tap-Out deadpanned at the sight. "Oh… guess we should have figured that would happen." the femme sighed. However, the sound of fast-approaching footfalls brought their sights back up to see Brainstorm, Proxima and Botanica rounding the corner, only to come to a sudden stop when they saw the state of the engine. Their optics trailed down to Glyph and Tap-Out, who could only offer nervous grins. "Uh… heh… sorry." Glyph lowered her head in shame.

Brainstorm let out a sigh and scratched his head, looking upon the damaged engine with dismay. "Hah… no, no, it's not your fault, Glyph. I underestimated this creature's intelligence. It seems this thing knows exactly what it's doing."

"I tried to warn you." Botanica said matter-of-factually. "But did you listen? No, of course not!" She threw her hands up as she berated him. "It is always "act first, ask questions later" with you! ALL the time, is it not?!"

"Well, pardon me for assuming that this bug would have the intelligence of one!" Brainstorm snapped back.

Botanica thrust her finger out and prodded his chest. "Do you just assume everything? Are you assuming that we're going in the right direction toward Earth as well?!"

Just when it seemed a war of words was about to break out between the two, Proxima wedged herself in the middle and shoved them apart. "That's enough! Both of you need to cool your engines!" She directed a stern finger to Botanica first. "YOU, Botanica, first of all, need to stop giving so much grief when it's completely unnecessary. I understand that you're a perfectionist, but no one can be perfect."

A grimace adorned Botanica's features as she crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "…Hmph, well, others can at least strive for it. Or even make an attempt…"

"Hehe, well, everybody makes mistakes, Botanica." Brainstorm chortled, rubbing his chin with a victorious grin. "And of course, once mistakes are made, we make a concentrated effort to correct them. Remember; here at Kimia, if a mistake isn't made at least once a day, then is science REALLY getting done? Trial and error IS a thing, after all."

"I do not make errors." Botanica raised her head as she began hovering away from the group, intent on returning to the upper levels. "I snuff them out before they can even happen."

As she left, the rest of the Autobots couldn't help but feel a little awkward at the silence that followed, only for Brainstorm to abruptly break the tension. "Tch, real life of the party that one is, eh? Hehe—oof!"

Without warning, Proxima smacked him upside the head and prodded his faceplate with her finger. "That'll be enough out of you! Don't think you're blameless here, sir. You need to realize that every scientist aboard this ship has their own way of doing things. They can't blindly follow EVERYTHING you do just because you think it's the right decision."

"Gah, of course I don't!" the genius insisted as he rubbed his head. "If I had THAT kind of expectation, then I'd be enforcing everyone to do their research in a specific way, and that's what's called "hinderance". And hindering science is FAR from what I want to do." Brainstorm placed his hands to his hips and shook his head. "I just don't know what sort of problem Botanica has with me."

"…I suppose it might just be a case of personalities clashing, sir." Proxima offered.

"Yeah…" All the same, Brainstorm turned back to the others, ready to proceed with correcting the mistake. "But we can deal with that later. Right now, we need to find that Blark-Barg and trap it."

Apelinq and the Mini-Bots were visibly confused at that. "Trap it?" the Maximal transformed back into his robot mode and approached his teacher. "Sir, wouldn't it be more prudent to eliminate it if it's such a threat?"

"Hah, you kidding? And miss out on all of the potential research and experiments we could perform on it?" Brainstorm reached around his protégé's shoulders and led him down the hall. "Not a chance! Come on, let's get back to the bridge and come up with a plan. We need to find a planet to land on so we can fix this engine up anyway."

Tap-Out and Glyph stood up and walked in step with Proxima, the former whispering up to her; "So, uh… ya think he can pull this off?"

"Knowing Brainstorm?" Proxima pondered for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "Possibly. …Maybe."

Glyph hung her head at the answer. "Ooh, I was afraid of that…"

…..

Several cycles later, once the Protectobots had been taken to the medical bay and everybody regrouped on the bridge, Brainstorm took to his chair as everyone from the hunt gathered around, intent to hear what his plan was. "Okay, so…" He typed in a command on his chair and brought up a holo-screen, showing a schematic of the engine, which had several parts flashing red. "This is how damaged the engine is. Several turbines have been bent out of shape, some pistons are either frozen or caked with goo… and the combustion core has been significantly damaged. We'll need to make planet fall in order to fix it."

"Do we even have the parts TO fix it?" Railspike asked.

"Mostly, yes." Brainstorm affirmed. "We might have to… get creative with certain bits, though."

Botanica's optics narrowed at him once again. "Define "creative"."

"Er… well, we might have to salvage some parts from OTHER areas of the vessel." The genius elaborated. "…Some of which are integral to the science spheres retaining power."

The botanist immediately shot the idea down. "Are you INSANE?! We cannot deprive the inhabitants of this colony of power! They would parish—"

"I KNOW." Brainstorm said firmly as he stood up, his glare hardening at her. "Which is why I'm only considering it as a very, very last resort. As in the "we're disparate" kind of last resort." He raised an imploring hand to her. "Now, if you'd like to hear out the other options that I've thought up, then maybe we can get somewhere."

Despite her growing frustration, Botanica had a feeling that she'd want to hear him out. "…You could have LED with those other options first."

The ship's Headmaster gave a shrug. "Maybe, but I wanted to get the drastic option out of the way first." Brainstorm raised a single finger into the air. "Now, the HUMANE option would be to find the nearest planet and make a pitstop there to see if they have the parts we need."

"That… sounds like a bit of a gamble, sir." Proxima admitted. "Sure, we could be near a planet, but we don't know if it'd be inhabited unless we make planetfall… and with the engines the way they are, Kimia can't transform into her city mode."

"Maybe not, but we DO have emergency shuttles!" Clapping his hands together, Brainstorm spun around toward Team Bullet Train. "Also, I've been having the boys here keep a sharp optic out for any planets that we enter the vicinity of just in case something crops up and we need a safe place to stop."

Midnight Express saluted to his commander. "Indeed so, sir! In fact… give me one moment." The largest member of Team Bullet Train went back to his computer console and began typing at a impressively quick pace, bringing up the coordinates of the nearest planet. "Ah-ha! I was right!" Pointing up through the bridge's window, Midnight Express pointed off toward the little red dot in the distance. "There! See that red star? That's a planet, right there!"

Brainstorm let out a laugh and craned his head back toward Botanica. "Haha! See! What'd I tell ya, Botanica?"

The perfectionist femme rolled her optics at his boasting. "Well, fine, we found a planet. But how are we to know that it is inhabited?"

"I'm working on that right now, actually." Midnight Express explained. "The ship's computers are currently scanning the planet for any life signs, so we should know in—" *beep-beep* *beep-beep* *beep-beep* The loud alarm and red flashing light on the console cut him off, making his eyeridges shoot up in surprise. "Oh! Right now!" Rapidly typing once again, Midnight Express hurriedly brought up the results… and what he found took him aback. "AH! …Y-You must be joking."

"Hm? What's the haps, bro?" Rapid Run asked as he and Railspike leaned closer to their brother's screen… and were left astonished by what they saw. "WOAH! No way!"

"Hah… well I'll be smelted." Railspike turned around and grinned out to the rest of his compatriots. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're in luck! Turns out, that planet out there? It's got thousands upon THOUSANDS of Cybertronian signals coming from it!"

The team collectively gasped at the revelation, with Glyph exclaiming; "A-Are you serious?! Other Cybertronians are on that planet?!"

Apelinq's processor was going a mile a minute, thinking of what this meant. "Could… could we have stumbled upon one of Cybertron's colonies? O-Or even a planet where another Titan took refuge after the Great Exodus?"

"All entirely possible." Botanica affirmed with a small smile. "Which means that perhaps we will have an easier time repairing the ship's engine than we thought."

Brainstorm threw his head back and let out a mighty guffaw at the development, bringing his arms up triumphantly. "Hahaha! You see, everyone? I KNEW that our luck would hold out! That said, we'll need to decide who goes to this planet and who'll remain behind. After all, that Blark-Barg isn't gonna take care of itself."

"Very true." Railspike nodded before gesturing toward his brothers. "We'll stay behind, of course. Those shuttles are fast, but they're not suited for our size."

"And besides, we stand a better chance against that creepy-crawly than anybody else on board." Rapid Run added.

It was then that Glyph made a suggestion. "Oh! Maybe Tap-Out and I should go! He and I are probably some of the least threatening members of this crew, after all."

"Hm… a very well-thought idea, Glyph, but unfortunately, I still need you here." Brainstorm shook his head. "After all, putting the Blark-Barg on ice is probably the best way we can secure it." The femme frowned in disappointment as her captain directed his attention toward Tap-Out. "But all things considered, you WOULD still make a good option, Tap-Out. I'm sure you've had experience in diplomacy, correct?"

The former boxer smirked and slammed his fist into his palm. "Eh, well… certain KINDS a' diplomacy, sure." he snickered.

"Hm… as I suspected." Brainstorm's gaze trailed up to his protégé, reaching up and placing a hand upon the Maximal's burly shoulder. "Well then, Apelinq, I'm gonna let you take the lead on this one!"

Apelinq's optics nearly bulged out of his head after hearing the decision. "H-Hold on, what?! Sir, w-with all due respect, I'm a scientist, not a diplomat."

The older Autobot gave his student a serious look. "Maybe, but we don't have many options. The Protectobots are gonna be out cold for a while, so our security is stretched thin. I need my BEST operators for this job and you're one of them." He gave a resolute nod up to the gorilla bot. "I know you can do this, Apelinq. I have faith in you. And besides, it's not like you'll JUST be going with Tap-Out." Brainstorm put on a cheeky grin and whirled around to his resident plant scientist. "Isn't that right, Botanica?"

Almost automatically, the femme did a doubletake. "W-What?! Me?! Why should I go?"

"Because, despite everything that WE go through, you're one of the most level-headed individuals on this ship." Brainstorm reasoned. "Should anything get out of hand, if anybody can deescalate the situation, it'd be you."

"I… I actually cannot argue with that." Botanica admitted, taking a deep intake to resolve herself. "Very well, then. I shall go. Besides, I doubt my expertise would be much aid in this… bug problem."

Brainstorm once again wore a smirk. "Afraid it'd eat your plants?"

"…Among OTHER things."

"Then it's settled!" Apelinq declared happily as he and Tap-Out joined Botanica at her side. "We'll head out on that shuttle, get to that planet, and come back with the parts we need as fast as we can."

Tap-Out rubbed his neck with a wince. "Hope the natives won't be hostile 'er anything. I'm down for a scrap, but we're in a pretty bad situation ourselves here. But that said…" He turned back to Glyph and reached his hands out, gently grasping hers. "Please promise me you'll stay safe here, 'kay? Stick with Brainstorm and things'll be okay."

Glyph smiled and gave him a single nod. "Of course. And you make sure to do your best." She leaned forward and nuzzled her forehead against his own. "And don't get into trouble, okay?"

"Heh, ya know I can't promise that."

"Hmhm, worth a shot."

Stepping up to his protégé, Brainstorm gave him a hearty pat on the arm. "We'll be coasting along behind you, Apelinq. Hopefully once we're closer to the planet, we'll have that Blark-Barg subdued and trapped."

"Safe travels, dear." Proxima added.

Apelinq bowed his head to the duo in kind. "Right. Will do. We'll catch you later." With that, the Maximal raised his arm and rallied his group to join him. "Alright, Autobots… let's roll… erm, never mind." His arm went down to the back of his head as he wore a sheepish grin. "Bad enough I look kinda like Optimus, I don't need to ape his rallying cry."

"…Was that intentional?" Tap-Out asked as he and Botanica gawked at their compatriot.

"Was what intentional?"

"I… never mind." Botanica hovered along behind the two mechs and pushed them toward the door. "Let us depart already."

…..

~One Hour Later~

If there was one thing that Apelinq had to give credit for when it came to the Kimia's extra shuttles, it's that they were fast. Sure, they weren't capable of light-speed travel, but the fact that they were closing in on their destination only after a single mega-cycle still spoke volumes to how the shuttle was designed. …And, of course, it was designed by Brainstorm himself, so it didn't come as a surprise. Within moments, the planet that they were about half a lightyear away from was now in sight… and once they saw it, they were astonished by what they saw. "…You must be joking." the Maximal uttered.

Directly before them was a medium-sized, red desert planet… with layers upon layers of roads encircling it. Sure, there was the occasional city here and there, but for the most part, it was just roadways galore. The only parts that didn't have roads were around the planet's frozen poles, which were completely iced over. None of them could believe it, but the guidance system all but confirmed it. "Lady and Gentlemen, you have arrived at your destination!" TAI announced, the A.I. having transferred herself partially into the shuttle. "Welcome to… Velocitron."

"THE SPEED PLANET!" Tap-Out exclaimed while pumping a fist into the air. "HAHA! Talk about lucking out!"

"It WAS a Cybertronian colony after all!" Botanica uttered in awe. "We actually found one… after all these millennia."

Apelinq's mouth hung open, taking in the impressive sight. "…I've never been to Velocitron before."

Tap-Out's grin only widened hearing that, nudging his elbow against his friend's arm. "Oh-ho, you're in for a treat then, pal! I've been to Velocitron LOTS of times, and lemme tell ya; it's probably got THE best roadways I've ever had the privilege of driving on. You guys are gonna LOVE it down there!"

"Shall we begin our descent, then?" Tai asked.

Apelinq gave an affirming nod to the A.I. "Of course, Tai. Let's get down there… though probably keep us a fair distance from any city. Don't want to cause a panic by just landing in the middle of one out of nowhere."

And thus, the shuttle shot down through Velocitron's atmosphere, finding a large expanse of desert to touch down in. Of course, they were situated next to a sizeable roadway which was held up by several support beams, which towered over the sandy terrain. As the trio walked out to take in their surroundings, though, Apelinq couldn't help but wonder out loud to himself; "I always knew that Velocitronians value speed above many things… but I didn't think that MOST of their planet was just roadways."

"Yeah, they weren't really all that satisfied by having to confine racetracks to just their cities." Tap-Out explained. "So they pretty much just MADE their planet into a big racetrack. Crazy, huh?"

"Indeed…" Botanica craned her head up toward the road. "So, which direction do we go if we want to find civilization?"

Tap-Out gave her a wink and a thumbs up. "Just follow me, Botanica. I know these roads pretty well. And knowin' how the bots here operate, it won't take us long before we find one. Then, maybe we can ask 'em for some help." *Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* Transforming into his Cybertronian coupe form, Tap-Out revved his engine and zoomed toward a nearby ramp that led up toward the road. "Let's roll, guys!"

Both Botanica and Apelinq shared a glance, the latter wearing an amused smirk. "Does he just forget that we can't roll?"

The femme shook her head and sighed. "Knowing how his processor works, probably. Come, we must follow him nonetheless."

*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt*

All at once, Botanica's body began to compress in on itself, her arms folding into her torso while her head shifted up, revealing a small cockpit under her chin. Her hood clamped onto the underside of the canopy as the VTOL fans on her hips and shoulders rearranged themselves, and her hover platform attached to the underside of her vehicle mode to propel her further into the air. In the end, she had transformed into a Cybertronian drone copter, and she began to fly after Tap-Out with haste.

"Hm, right behind you!" Apelinq called out before reverting back to his gorilla mode, bringing out his hoverboard to keep up with the two. From there, the trio followed the road north, keeping an eye out for any bots that they may come across in their travels.

…And it didn't take even half a mega-cycle for Tap-Out to spot something. "Woah, woah! Pump the brakes!" he screeched to a halt on the road, prompting Botanica and Apelinq to stop in midair. Tap-Out changed back into robot mode and approached the guard rail, pointing out toward the desert clearing that they had come across. "We've got locals!"

His compatriots joined him and set their sights out toward the sands… and what they saw left them curious. Just a few clicks away stood two shorter bots. One of them was a lot blockier in build, with lots of angles to him. He seemed fairly young and sported a striking cyan, orange and white color scheme, with a smidge of red in the forehead section of his helmet. The entire front end of his car mode was on his back, and the rear tires were in his legs.

The other bot was much skinnier, though his most jarring feature were his large shoulders where his massive yellow tires were mounted. He was primarily brown and white in color, with hints of yellow in his knees and upper chest. His horned helm had an air intake sticking out the front and it was fairly obvious that he was on the older side, given his etched, grizzled features and the metal beard on his chin. Also, the entire front end of his dragster mode was folded up onto his back.

However, that wasn't what Apelinq and Botanica were focused on. Rather, it was the fact that these two bots were being surrounded by two OTHER bots in their vehicle modes, driving around them in circles. One was a small, red and gold motorbike with big, red wheels, and the other was a big, green monstrosity of a vehicle that had two huge wheels in the back and a single one up front, a blue canopy, and a pair of MASSIVE thrusters that were mounted on its back. …And those two bots were laughing maliciously at their victims.

"Somethings going on out there!" Apelinq exclaimed, his gaze hardening at the scene. "We should help!"

"Do not act so hasty, Apelinq." Botanica chastised, flying in front of the Maximal so that he wouldn't rush in. "For all we know, this could be a common practice on this planet. Perhaps we should keep moving—"

"WOOO-HOO-HOO!" The sudden whooping from one of the bots caught their attention once again, leading them to watch as the red motorcycle started faking out the younger bot in the middle by pretending to dart at him, only to resume going in circles. "Hahaha! Wassa matter, widdle bot? Too scared to try an' stop us?!"

"HAHAHA!" came the bellowing laughter from the large three-wheeler. "You really gonna let the ol' timer fight yer battles for ya?!" the growly voice egged on.

Said old timer, however, wasn't too impressed. "I've had enough of this!" The bot reached behind his back and took out what appeared to be an entire engine block, holding it in his hand via a handle underneath. Oddly enough, though… there was a blade folded back on TOP of the engine, and what happened next took ALL of the Autobots by surprise.

"CYBER KEY POWER!"

The old mech briefly glowed with a powerful, red energy as a similar red light came falling out of the sky and inserted into the back of the engine… which allowed the yellow blade to flip forward. With a loud battle cry, the geezer lifted his weapon high, much to his young friend's dismay. "N-No! Wildbrake, you can't!" he shouted.

"Ooh, so DAT'S how it's gonna be!" The motorcycle snickered. "Well then… Ransack, transform!" All at once, the entire rear section of the bike separated and its rear wheel split in half, folding out to the sides of the legs as they separated from the undercarriage as well. The seat and gas can of the bike split in half as well, forming the arms and shoulders respectively before its front tire spun so that it was now horizontally mounted. Finally, the windshield flipped backward, forming the chest plate of the robot as his head was revealed. His helm was red with a silver lip over his eyes, making it resemble a cap of sorts.

Screeching into a spin, the big, green vehicle did the same. "CRUMPLEZONE, TRANSFORM!" The sides of the vehicle's rear section split off from the rest of it, tires included, transforming into the arms with the hands popping out from the rear bumper. The front bumper and headlights, meanwhile, disconnected from the front wheel and swung downward, revealing themselves to be the legs and feet. The front wheel then folded into the cockpit, which then itself folded down to become the chest of the bot. Finally, his head was revealed… and it was just as monstrous as his alt. mode. He had a large helmet with a head crest in the middle and two fins on either side, which led down into a permanent scowl. His jagged, gold face was framed by his HUGE lower jaw, which had molded in "teeth" to make it resemble a threatening underbite.

With Ransack taking the entire rear of his vehicle mode in-hand, he smirked down to the smaller bots, all while his large compatriot backed him up. "'Ey, Crumplezone, looks like dis old guy wants to play hardball!"

"Good! I like to play, too!" Crumplezone said eagerly, slamming his fist into his palm. "Only I play fer keeps! Hehehe…"

"I'm thinkin' Iron Whirlwind Attack." Ransack suggested.

"Oh, a Double Piledriver'd be a LOT more fun."

The younger bot clenched his metal teeth and rushed forward, spreading his arms out in front of Wildbrake. "Leave him alone!"

But Ransack was having none of it. "Slag off, pipsqueak!" In one swift motion, the motorbike bot performed a spin-kick, sending the young bot hurdling back and skidding across the ground.

"Clocker! No!" Wildbrake grimaced up to his assailants… know that he didn't stand a chance. But still, he wasn't about to back down, not after that. "That's it! I'm gonna—"

"CYBER KEY POWER!"

Much to the older bot's shock, both Ransack and Crumplezone performed the same technique that he just did, with red beams of light shooting into them. For Ransack, the key inserted into the piece of his alt. mode that he was holding, which caused a set of twin blasters to come flipping forward on it. And for Crumplezone, the key slotted in straight into his back, causing the thrusters to also flip forward, mounting themselves on his shoulders as a pair of bazookas. Wildbrake gasped and stumbled back, his optics widening in horror.

"When we're all done wit' yous guys, you'll be ready fer da wreckin' yard!" Ransack threatened as their weapons began to glow with power.

"START DA SLAMFEST!" Crumplezone roared in delight. But then…

*CRASH*

The troublesome duo hollered out in pain as something slammed into them at high speed, taking them off their feet and sent flying several feet away. Wildbrake was left stunned and had to do a doubletake when he saw his saviors; a green coupe and… some weird beast on a hoverboard. Neither of which were really common on Velocitron. All the same, he was grateful to them and smiled in approval, especially when the green one transformed and went over to him. "Sir! You alright?" Tap-Out asked.

"Hm! Yeah, I think so." Wildbrake nodded. "How 'bout you?"

"We're alright, sir." the flying ape acknowledged with a salute. "But you should really get back. This could get ugly. APELINQ, MAXIMIZE!" With a guttural roar, Apelinq assumed robot mode and landed directly in front of Clocker, picking up the younger bot and delivering him straight to Botanica, who wasn't far behind.

The botanist transformed and met them halfway, rushing up to inspect the injured youngling. "Are you unharmed, young bot?" she asked, gently placed a hand upon his head.

Clocker let out a small hum and nodded, though weakly so. "Hmm… I think so. I-I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Botanica shook her head. "No, this is very real, young one. You and your friend are in great danger." She peered down to the elderly bot and nodded to him. "Stay here with me, good sir. I will tend to your charge as best as I can."

"I appreciate it, young lady." Wildbrake put his weapon away just as Apelinq produced something from behind his back and set it to the ground… something that looked suspiciously like a weapon. "Erm… what's that?"

"Don't worry, it's something to keep you all protected." Apelinq pressed the center of the device and it started projecting a large, dome-shaped forcefield around them all, only for him to step out of the shield soon after. "Remain here. We'll take care of this."

With the three of them secured, Apelinq went back to Tap-Out's side, staring down the gruesome twosome as they got back up to their feet. "Gah… Ransack, buddy, you know who the heck these chumps are?"

"Ain't ever seen 'em before in my life, Crumplezone." Ransack sneered at the Autobots. "But if they wanna play rough, then we'll show 'em rou—"

"HEY!" Just then, the little red bot was cut off when a loud voice sounded off from behind them, causing the duo to flinch. "What the PIT are you idiots doin'?!"

Within seconds, Ransack and Crumplezone were both shaking with fear and anticipation respectively. "D'aw, scrap!" Ransack threw his hands up in his misery. "I KNEW he had ta be watchin'!"

"Oh-hoho! NOW things are gonna get interesting!" Crumplezone rubbed his hands together before smirking toward the Autobots. "You guys are in for it now!"

Apelinq and Tap-Out were perplexed by his words, but that didn't last for long as a new bot came driving up in between the thugs. His alt. mode was… a big, purple monster truck with bright neon green suspension for his huge, red tires. It had silver detailing along the hood and diamond plating on the roof, as well as big, green exhaust pipes mounted on the rear. As he skid along the sand, the bot yelled; "TRANSFORM!"

*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt*

His transformation began with his entire front end splitting down the middle and extending out, forming the legs of his robot mode while his feet flipped out from the grill and headlights. His pelvis extended down and performed a 180-degree flip, which made the suspension and his tires flatten out toward his sides. His arms came down from the rear of his truck mode, which subsequently flipped down to his back. The roof of the truck formed his chest and his head popped out from the inside, revealing a bullet-shaped helm with a green strip going through the middle of his head. Finally, one of his red optics was replaced with a multi-lensed scope, which only made his scowl more intimidating.

The purple bot stomped down in front of the Autobots, clenching his metal teeth in rage. "Do you two have ANY idea what you've just done?"

"Er… no?" Tap-Out replied. "Should we?"

"HA! Yeah, ya SHOULD!" All of a sudden, the bot began emanating a powerful red aura around him… wherein he summoned a certain powerful light that inserted itself into his back. "CYBER KEY POWER!" His two exhaust pipes flipped up over his shoulders, becoming a pair of cannons that quickly began charging up. "The name's Dirt Boss… an' you two just made the BIGGEST mistake a' yer lives."

…..

A/N: Oy, not on Velocitron for an HOUR and already our heroes are getting themselves into trouble. Well, I guess it beats having to deal with an insectoid alien monster who's podding up innocents and the like. But yeah, quite the development for our science crew! One of their engine's busted and now they've gotta find the right parts to fix it. Thankfully they just happened upon a Cybertronian colony, but given their lack of a warm welcome, this might not be as easy as they thought.

With all that said, though, we've got quite a few new faces to go over, so let's do a rundown, shall we? We'll get the easiest group out of the way first, the Velocitronians!

Ransack – Sam Vincent

Crumplezone – Mark Acheson

Dirt Boss – Michael Donovan

Wildbrake – Michael Dobson

Clocker – Brian Dobson

So yeah, these guys are all just directly based off of their Transformers Cybertron counterparts to a T, with only a few minor changes. For one, Ransack's now voiced by Sam Vincent, since his original voice actor has since retired and I think Sam could do a decent impression. And of course, the old codger that was once known as "Brakedown" is now "Wildbrake", for obvious reasons. Gone are the days when Transformer names are randomly thrown onto characters and now, we need a bit of consistency. The Stunticon keeps his original name and now Wildbrake gets an imitation name that was used on a DIFFERENT Stunticon in RID2015. It all works out! Now, onto the Kimia, and I think I'll start out with…

Railspike – Fred Tatasciore

Rapid Run – Arif S. Kinchen

Midnight Express – David Lodge

Team Bullet Train, everybody! Undoubtedly, THE stand-outs from RID2001… and hopefully, with the Omega Prime Haslab proving to be a success, maybe we'll get these characters in toy form again one day, who knows? But yes, two of the brothers now have new voices. Railspike's original actor sadly passed away, so now he's voiced by Fred Tatasciore (and I imagine him using his Soldier 76 voice for him). Rapid Run's voice actor ALSO retired a while ago, so I've given him the voice of RID2015 Jazz; Arif Kinchen! I think it fits him well.

Funnily enough, David Lodge was the ONLY one of the original Bullet Train actors to still be active… and he voices a LOT of Power Ranger villains, which is surprising given how Midnight Express is like. …He ALSO voiced the team's combined mode, so expect to see that in the future as well, hehe. But finally, we have;

Tap-Out – Sean Astin

Glyph – Yu Zhang

Botanica – Anjali Bhimani

Okay, so starting with Glyph and Tap-Out. Appearance-wise, they're both based on their IDW2019 comic appearance in their Valentine's Day special. Which yes, if you couldn't tell, they ARE a couple here. Tap-Out isn't really based on anyone personality-wise, but for Glyph, I DID put a bit of Mei from Overwatch in her. She shares her voice actor, has a lack of confidence, AND is a cryogenics expert as well, so there's that.

Now… Botanica. If you couldn't tell, I based her appearance mostly upon her Animated counterpart. Though UNLIKE Animated, she has an alt. mode that can fly! When I saw those wheels on Botanica's model, I thought; "Wait, those could easily pass off as drone rotors". So I did just that! And now, she's a drone copter who has an affinity for plants… and is a perfectionist. Yeah, if you couldn't tell by her personality, her voice and her powers, she's pretty much Symmetra in Cybertronian form. And honestly? It kinda fits. Now that we've gotten the characters all settled, though…

And now, the Preview! Back on board the Kimia, the Protectobots wake up in the med bay and explain the situation in full to Brainstorm, revealing that they had a plant to catch the beast before it could pod up any more civilians. As they work to put this plan into motion, however, the group on Velocitron discover that there's a LOT more suspicious activity going on around the planet than just random shake-ups. Something's going on… and they go to meet the planet's leader to figure out what it is. And… wait, what's that blue streak speeding by?! Is it a plane? A hedgehog?! No, it's… something to find out next time! Thanks for reading everybody! Stay safe out there and, as always…

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!