A/N: YES, I'M STILL ALIVE. Writer's block is a bitch.

Anyway, I've come up with new ideas for this old story. I'm still trying to figure out how to go about re-writing Monster World, I haven't had much motivation to do Episode 9 for Theodore Tugboat: The Real Stories, and Diary of a Wargamer? I was writing Chapter 5, but did so in 's document uploader, and I eventually fell behind, and it was deleted 90 days after I last edited it. So yeah, now I'll have to restart development on Chapter 5 of that.

Anyhoo, enjoy Episode 1 of Transformers: The Great War: "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1".

One more thing: when you see "MEANWHILE...", this indicates the faction symbol flip transition from the G1 cartoon.


Time, they say, is relative. For the Ark and its inhabitants, this couldn't be truer. For four million stellar cycles (four million years in human terms), the mighty ship stood, almost undisturbed. Nature began to claim the ship, and soon, only the engines were visible.

I say almost because there were two occassions in which it received visitors. Both happened during the brutal 40-year Beast Wars, when the Maximals under Optimus Primal made a dangerous pilgrimmage to the Ark to "borrow" the Matrix of Leadership in order to get the edge they needed over the insane Predacon leader, who had taken the name Megatron for himself. It was eventually returned by Optimus Primal's successor, Mammoth Primal, in the waning days of the Beast Wars.

The Lewis and Clark expedition reported the Ark's engines when they spotted Mount Saint Helens in 1806, but assumed it was a temple built by an ancient civilization. Settlers were warned not to approach the "temple" for fear of what could be inside; theories ran rampant all over the world, from outlandish death traps to a terrible beast that this supposed civilization would sacrifice virgin women to. In the 1950s, the conspiracy mill started up regarding this construct, the most common theory being it was a crashed alien spaceship.

In 1964, the United States government finally decided to investigate the Mount Saint Helens construct. Known as Operation: Sacrifice, the goal of the operation was to gain access to the interior of whatever this thing was and get a clear answer as to its origins. The initial entry occurred on April 5, 1964, and initial reports revealed exactly what was inside: giant robots. Over the next two weeks, the field team was able to ascertain the origin of the construct: it was indeed a crashed alien ship, much more elaborate in design and construction than the ship that had crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. They also ascertained that the ship's inhabitants were in a low-power mode, and at no risk of being awakened. The team was under very, very strict orders from the White House not to recover anything from the ship.

After Operation: Sacrifice, the United States Army set up a perimeter around the Ark after ufologists descended upon Mount Saint Helens. Wanting to keep the existence of aliens under tight lock-and-key to avoid panic, the entire area was sealed off, and the official explanation was that it was an unusual volcanic rock formation. As they feared, none of these ufologists and tin foil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists believed them, knowing with certainty that it was an alien ship, and that there were aliens aboard. Their arguments in favor of the alien ship theory was the blatant engines, which the government provided several flimsy excuses for.

This situation continued for the rest of the 1960s and all throughout the 1970s, until one fateful day.


May 18, 1980

For days, earthquakes had been rattling the are around Mount Saint Helens. The US Army had been moving their assets out of the area in preparation for the inevitable eruption. Conspiracy theorists and ufologists booked hotels all around the area, knowing that such a huge eruption would affect what they rightfully knew was an alien ship.

At 8:32:17 AM PDT, it happened. The largest and most distastrous volcanic eruption in the United States, and the largest since the 1915 Lassen Peak eruption, forever changed the area. Not only that, it also set in chain a motion of events that would change the course of human history forever.

The remaining army personnel at the defensive perimeter emerged from shelter several hours after the eruption. The air was thick with ash, but their camp had survived. All personnel had to wear gas masks just to be able to breathe.

"So," asked a soldier, "how much you think this'll cost the tax-payers?"

"Too much" answered another, "We'll be fending off lunatics for months after this."

Aboard the Ark, everything had been silent. But the eruption jolted the mighty ship, sending a few of the smaller Autobots tumbling. Then the shaking stopped.

And a light came on. Then another. And another. In seconds, Teletraan I had begun to wake up from its four million year slumber.

MEANWHILE...


Four million years. They had been gone four million years. And they had heard NOTHING.

Cybertron was a decrepit shell of its former self. The scars of war could still be seen from orbit. Or they would be if there were still any ships capable of interstellar flight. The only one who could do so was Omega Supreme, but he had chosen to stand vigil over the entrance to the Core of Cybertron, in case Shockwave decided to try anything funny. Fortunately for him, no Decepticon dared approach him.

Cybertron was still unable to produce energon, but the remaining Autobots and Decepticons were making due. They had managed to get a few solar farms back up and running, and even built new ones using the materials available. There was enough energon to support the remaining population. The ones who would accept it, at least. While the Great War had quieted down, with only the odd skirmish between Autobots and Decepticons, there was another war going on. Or rather, a multitude of concurrent wars.

Gang wars.

Following the departure of Optimus Prime and Megatron, most Autobot and Decepticon soldiers who remained on Cybertron rejected the authority of Ultra Magnus and Shockwave, and deserted their armies. They went on to form gangs. Each gang operated differently; some were vigilantes seeking to uphold the law in their own way. Others were scavengers who replaced their worn-out parts with the parts of those they have slain. Some were smugglers, trafficking guns and even Dark Energon, the latter of which saw brutal crackdowns that shut down the trade overnight. The worst, though, were the savages. These gangs would attack everyone in sight, then drain them of energy to fuel themselves.

These gangs had colorful names, such as the Red Unicrons or the Knights of Primus. The most notorious gangs were the vigilante gang known as the Optimus, and the most savage band of them all, the Malignus. The Optimus were an oddity, in that they had discreet support from the Autobots.

Ultra Magnus was watching the monitors in the Iacon Command Center. The war of nerves with Shockwave had taken its toll on him. But he stayed strong, if only for his men.

But he wasn't thinking about that right now. He was waiting. For a sign. A sound. Anything from the Ark. The last transmission Iacon had received from the ship came just before the Nemesis attacked. Several Autobot Flyers who had fallen back to Cybertron in the fighting brought news of the attack; Shockwave received the news from the Combaticons.

Ultra Magnus' thoughts then turned to Cybertron's place in the universe. Literally. Cybertron had long been a runaway planet, bouncing from one solar system to another. Only 15 stellar cycles ago had it finally settled into a permanent orbit around a star. Attempts to find local starmaps revealed that this system had absolutely ZERO interstellar infrastructure. Not even a system map, so they had no way of knowing what this system was called, and what planets it held. Iacon's chief scientist, Mainframe, had managed to spot a few stellar bodies: most noticeable was an asteroid belt that seemed to surround the entire system. Then there was a terrestrial planet that was predominantly red, and an orange gas giant with over 60 moons. There was also a faint, blue-and-green body. It was too small to be a gas giant, so Mainframe concluded it was a terrestrial planet with life on it, but with no available ships, they couldn't investigate it.

Ultra Magnus was shaken from his thoughts by a wooshing sound. The door to the command center opened up, and in entered a red, blue, and grey Autobot.

"Ah, Mainframe," said Ultra Magnus, his voice sounding like Jon Bailey impersonating Robert Stack, "anything to report?"

"Indeed, Ultra Magnus," said Mainframe, "We have finally completed repairs on the Teletraan Network. All we need to do now is flip the switch."

"Finally, some good news," Magnus replied, "Now maybe we can make contact with Optimus Prime, if he's still alive."

"I'm sure he's fine, sir. He's survived much, much worse."

"I hope you're right, Mainframe. But I digress. Take me to the server room. We should get the network back up and running immediately."

"As you wish, Ultra Magnus."

"Delta, you have command until I return."

"R-right, Utra Magnus!" Delta Magnus stammered. She was new to the job, having just been promoted to Magnus the solar-cycle before. She looked identical to Ultra Magnus, only she had her reds and blues in different places than her superior.

Down in the server room, Autobots were working feverishly to get the Teletraan network back online. When Ultra Magnus entered, all activity stopped.

"ATTENTION!" shouted a green Autobot. Kup, one of the older Autobots, was in charge of this operation, as well as operations in Iacon as a whole.

"At ease, Kup," replied Magnus, "Mainframe tells me the Teletraan network is ready to be brought back online?"

"Not a moment too soon," said Kup, somewhat exasperated, "It's taken us 50 stellar-cycles thanks to the shortage of materials, but we finally managed to get the servers to a workable state. Mainframe's inspected it, and he says it'll work."

"I'll be the judge of that, Kup," said Ultra Magnus, "Now, where's the switch."

"Right here," said an orange Autobot. He was Kup's assistant, Hot Rod.

Walking up to the switch, Ultra Magnus examined it. It was a simple lever with gears, not unlike those seen in the closing days of the war. Grasping it, Ultra Magnus pulled slowly, until it was flipped all the way.

And just like magic, lights appeared on all of the servers. Then they began to hum.

"WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS!" cried Hot Rod. And everyone in the room exploded into cheers. The Teletraan Network was back up and running.

"This will begin to make things right..." said Ultra Magnus, "Well done, all of you!"

In the Iacon Command Center, Delta Magnus and the other command staff noticed the computer banks booting up. She rushed over to one immediately, and gasped when she saw the old startup screen she had been so familiar with during her days at the Academy popped up.

The restoration of the network was also noticed in Kaon. Shockwave was busy working on his newest experiment, when the computer in his lab suddenly came to life.

"Odd," he said to himself. Ever since Megatron had left Cybertron, his old vocal chip had worn out, and he had to get a new one. His voice now sounded like someone impersonating David Warner. "That's very odd. The Autobots must have gotten the Teletraan network operational again. I wonder..."

MEANWHILE...


Back on the Ark, Teletraan I had just finished booting up.

"TELETRAAN NETWORK ONLINE. SCANNING."

Teletraan I scanned its surroundings, and found numerous Cybertronians in stasis lock.

"SCAN COMPLETE. REPAIRS REQUIRED. DEPLOYING SCOUT DRONE."

On that, a small, circular drone with solar panels, a Sky Spy satellite, popped out of Teletraan I and flew to the nearest opening.

"EXPLORE. EXPLORE."

Outside, the soldiers were digging one of their Jeeps out, when they heard a sound.

They looked up to see the Sky Spy flying out of the ship, and into the sky. A few soldiers immediately grabbed their assault rifles.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" shouted their superior, "It's not armed! Probably just a scout drone."

The commander then looked up from his men to the drone.

"What have you delivered unto us, O Lord?"

It was now September 17, 1984. The Sky Spy had scoured the globe searching for new modes to use in repairing the Autobots and Decepticons. By now, the US Army had long abandoned the perimeter around Mount Saint Helens, but nobody dared go anywhere near the mountain anymore.

The Sky Spy came in for a landing in the Ark, and plugged back into Teletraan I.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

The computer activated its repair beam. By complete chance, Starscream just happened to be in its path. Thus, he was the first to be repaired.

Coming back online, Starscream groggily opened his eyes.

"Ugh..." he said. His voice was now deeper, and he seemed to have a British accent of some sort. "Is it over yet?"

His eyes sprung open when he realized where he was.

"Huh?! Where am I?! Oh, stupid question. I should be asking where ARE we?!"

He saw that Teletraan-1 was online, and that the repair beam was active.

"REPAIR, REPAIR."

"So, there is still time to set things right. Megatron..."

Without a second thought, Starscream pulled Megatron into the repair beam. It didn't take long before Megatron had his new body, and came back online.

"Megatron, my leader," said Starscream, "We live again."

Megatron was dazed and confused. He looked around, seeing they were still on the Ark, then his optics turned to Starscream.

"S-s-starscream? W-where are we?" His voice now sounded like, well, Frank Welker.

"I'm not sure myself," replied Starscream, "The Autobot ship seems to have embedded itself in the side of that mountain pretty well."

Suddenly, Megatron remembered.

"The Autobot ship! The planet Shockwave told me about! Of course!"

"Come," said Starscream, "We should repair the others."

"An excellent idea, Starscream. I don't know what this planet holds, and we'll need all the 'bots we can get."

And so, one-by-one, Megatron and Starscream brought the remaining Decepticons on the bridge to the repair beam. And soon, they were all repaired with their new forms.

Megatron noticed he now seemed to have a weapon attatched to his arm, while still having a functional right hand.

"Seems the days of integrated weaponry is over..." he noted, sadly.

He realized this new weapon looked like his old Fusion Cannon. But he had no time to dwell on that now.

"Decepticons, we're leaving!"

Finding the entrance made by the Operation: Sacrifice personnel, Megatron blasted it with his Fusion Cannon, blowing a massive hole in the wall and making a very wide entrance.

"Primus, this thing packs a punch!" he exclaimed, laughing excitedly. He could tell he was going to love his new Fusion Cannon.

The Decepticons assembled on top of the Ark. Starscream was taking roll of who was left. At last, he spoke.

"These are the Decepticons we have on hand: aside from you and me, we also still have Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, and all three components of Reflector."

"I STILL HAVE QUITE A FEW DEPLOYERS WITH ME," said Soundwave.

"Well, then, let's see them" ordered Megatron.

"AS YOU COMMAND."

Soundwave pressed the button on his left shoulder.

"ALL DEPLOYERS, EJECT. OPERATION: ROLL CALL."

And all of his Deployers came flying out, transforming as they did and landing on the ground. They were all lined-up in formation.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise" said Megatron.

"I've finished compiling all Deployers on-hand," said Starscream, "They are: Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ravage, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Slugfest, Overkill, Squaktalk, Beastbox, Wingthing, Enemy, Howlback, and Garboil."

"14 Deployers?!" Megatron spluttered, "Soundwave, are you sure you have enough room for all of them?"

"MY TAPE DECK IS A SUBSPACE STORAGE POCKET."

"Tapes...I think I've just found a better name for Mini-Con Deployers. From this day forward, Mini-Con Deployers shall now be named Mini-Cassettes."

"Does have a nice ring," said Rumble.

"Certainly rolls off the tongue easier," agreed Frenzy.

"Come, Decepticons," Megatron said at last, "We have much to do. Starting with scouting the area and finding out where the slag we are."

The three Seekers transformed into their new jet modes. Soundwave recalled all of his cassettes and transformed into his new cassette player mode, which landed in Thundercracker's cockpit. Megatron was about to transform into...whatever it was he now transformed into, when he saw Reflector's components firing on the Ark.

"Reflector!" Megatron shouted, annoyed.

"I'm just saying goodbye!" the components replied, defensively.

"Save your energy! The Autobots have taken their, heh, last flight!"

Megatron walked away, but Reflector continued firing, hoping to bury the entrance.

"Thanks for the ride, Prime. Too bad you can't go the rest of the way!"

Satisfied, Reflector's components took to the air.

Unbeknownst to him, one of the rocks he knocked loose was big enough to rattle the Ark, which was enough to shake Optimus Prime right in the path of Teletraan I's repair beam.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

Teletraan I had Optimus repaired in no time. His new form was that of a cab-over semi, and what's more, he now had a trailer like he had thought of when getting Bumblebee to the repair bay all those years ago.

Unlike Megatron and Starscream, Optimus was immediately alert, and transformed into his robot mode.

"Thanks!" he said to Teletraan I, giving it a thumbs up.

A short while later, after Optimus and walked around the Ark assessing the situation, he went into the repair bay and found that Bumblebee was still on the operating table. Ratchet was slumped against a wall, and Hornet was, rather fittingly, slumped over Bumblebee. Even in stasis, she wouldn't leave his side.

He looked for Hoist, but found he was nowhere to be found. Then he checked on every single Autobot in the repair bay. All of them, except Bumblebee, Hornet, and Ratchet, were dead, several of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Then he noticed several of these Autobots were actually Decepticons, and noticed a gun next to Ratchet. He deduced that the Decepticons had launched an assault on the repair bay just before the crash.

"Vector Sigma..." he muttered, "Is there nothing the Decepticons will stoop to?"

Pushing that thought aside, Optimus discovered his new trailer had a drone named Roller. He set Roller to work gathering up the surviving Autobots, and putting them in his trailer. When they were safely stowed away, Optimus transformed into his truck mode, hitched up to his trailer, and drove back to the bridge.

With all of the surviving Autobots now assembled on the bridge, Optimus picked up Bumblebee and placed him before the repair beam.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

In seconds, Bumblebee had received his new body. He was still the same size, but his body, much like Optimus', was a lot more blocky and with less moving parts. Optimus figured it was for fuel efficiency.

The light returned to Bumblebee's eyes, and he slowly sat up.

"W-where am I?" he asked. Then he gasped. "My vocal chip! It's fixed! I can talk again!"

"Teletraan I must have repaired it" said Optimus.

"Optimus? Oh, thank Primus you're not a Decepticon! Where are we?"

"We're aboard the Ark, old friend. You sacrificed yourself to protect me from Megatron's gun. I took you up to the repair bay with one of his Megaplex clones hot on my tail, but I made it. Ratchet and Hornet were just stabilizing you when the Decepticons stormed the repair bay. Then we crashed."

"Woah...how long have we been out?"

"I wish I knew, old friend."

Bumblebee's attention then turned to his still-offline sister.

"Let's get her fixed next," said Optimus. And he and Bumblebee gently placed Hornet under the beam.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

A few seconds later, Hornet had her new body. As expected, it looked identical to Bumblebee's body, except red.

Hornet's eyes shot open, as if she was still in battle, and she shot up to her feet. "YOU WON'T HAVE HIM, YOU DECEPTICR—wait..."

Hornet noticed she was unarmed. Then she noticed she wasn't even in the repair bay anymore.

"How did I get to the bridge?"

"It's a long story, Hornet."

"Optimus? Wait, what's going on here? Where are we? How long were we out?"

Bumblebee spoke up. "Repairing our comrades. Don't know. Also don't know. And I just noticed the Decepticons absquatulated."

Hornet didn't recognize this new voice, but when she turned to face him, she instantly recognized him.

"...'BEE!"

Hornet was so overwhelemed with joy that she tackled Bumblebee to the ground and pulled him into a vice-like hug. Bumblebee felt like his chassis was about to be crushed, but did his best to return the hug.

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, pulling away but still with her arms around him, "You're alive! And you can talk again!"

"All thanks to Teletraan I, I can," replied Bumblebee.

Hornet didn't speak. She just pressed her forehead against Bumblebee's, and closed her eyes. Bumblebee closed his, too. After four million years, the Bee Twins were truly reunited.

Optimus fought hard to tear himself away from the cute scene to get Ratchet repaired.

15 minutes later, Optimus Prime had repaired all of the Autobots and assembled them outside the Ark.

The surviving Autobots, aside from himself, Bumblebee, Hornet, and Ratchet, were Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Bluestreak, Wheeljack, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Brawn, Cliffjumper, Windcharger, Huffer, Gears, Bumper, Cromar, Zetar, Aragon, Camshaft, Downshift, and Overdrive.

"I've just checked my chrono-circuits," said Optimus, "We have been in stasis for-"


"FOUR MILLION STELLAR-CYCLES?!" cried Megatron.

"I can hardly believe it myself," said Starscream, also dumbfounded.

"Well, how do we even know Cybertron is still there?" asked Skywarp.

"It must be!" replied Megatron, a bit panicked. He had no idea if the Dark Energon had completely changed Cybertron, if it hadn't been destroyed.

"So, what's the plan, Megatron?" asked Starscream.

"I...have no plan."

"What?! But...you always have a plan!"

"For the first time in my life...I'm at a loss for words."

"You're not really going to just have us fend for ourselves on this world, of which we have absolutely no knowledge of aside from it being rich in energy, are you?"

"NO! No, of course not. Y-you're right, Starscream. Perhaps right now isn't the time to be planning anything military-related. Right now, we just need to survive on this planet until we can marshall enough strength to do, well, ANYTHING."

The Decepticons were surprised. They had never seen Megatron be so...fallible. Reflector looked on with glee at this development, while Starscream was worried.

MEANWHILE...


The Autobots had managed to convert the bridge into a new command center. The Ark had officially been renamed Outpost One.

"I've got the repair bay all squared away, Prime" said Ratchet. He now sounded like Don Messick.

"Sensors are up and running" added Ironhide.

"And I've converted one of the storage rooms into a workshop where I can work on anything we may need" said Wheeljack, a bit of pride in his voice.

"Good work, Autobots" said Optimus Prime, "Bumblebee, Hornet, I need to speak with you two."

The twins were just setting down some crates full of weapons that now needed to be reforged to be handheld since their new bodies didn't have integrated weapons for the sake of energy efficiency (that and they also needed to be converted to use lasers since plasma rounds couldn't be realistically mass-produced anymore), and they walked over.

"While Wheeljack is making new weapons for us, I need you two to reconnoiter the area. Find the nearest population center and size it up. The Decepticons could target it, and I want to know if we can realistically defend it."

"You got it, Prime!" they said in unison, saluting.

"Been meaning to try out these new wheels" muttered Bumblebee.

The twins transformed into their new vehicle modes (Volkswagen Beetles), and drove away to find the nearest road.

Just then, Trailbreaker walked up. "I don't think I need to remind you that escape pods were jettisoned during the battle, and that many of them landed here on Earth."

Optimus was confused. "How do you know that, Trailbreaker?"

"I'm picking up several distress signals in the area, all of them Cybertronian. It's the same signal used on the pods from smaller galactic transports."

Optimus was intrigued. "We should find those pods as soon as we can, then."

MEANWHILE...


The Bee Twins had found a road, and made it all the way out to Interstate 5, heading north. They noticed just how many vehicles were on the road, including several that looked like their new forms. They didn't dare speak to avoid blowing their cover.

Eventually, they made it to the nearest population center: Seattle, Washington. The twins drove all throughout the city, observing the bipedal organics wearing fabric on their bodies. Many of them had also adorned themselves with various jewels, either in their ears and noses, or around their necks, wrists, or on their fingers. They found these excessive and wasteful.

Bumblebee and Hornet returned to base at sunset. Optimus was waiting for them outside.

"Ah, good. You're back. Based on how long you two were gone, there must be a lot to report."

"You want the short version or the long version?" asked Bumblebee.

"Yes" answered Optimus. The twins looked at each other, wondering if he was serious.

"Well," began Bumblebee, "we managed to make it to a rather large population center."

The twins then elaborated on their findings, who the dominant species seemed to be, how big their cities were, what their transportation infrastructre was like, and how primitive their technology was compared to Cybertronian technology. Optimus listened with interest.

"Very interesting," he said once the twins finished, "Seems this planet's more developed than we thought."

"We even managed to translate several of their languages," said Hornet, "One in particular, English, is phonetically identical to Cybertronian. The alphabet they use is also completely identical to the Galactic Standard Alphabet. Pretty sure it's a coincidence."

"This should make things easier for us" said Optimus.

The three then entered the base and began to make themselves at home. The Ark would never fly again, but in its current state, it made the perfect base.

MEANWHILE...


The Decepticons had found a clearing somewhere in Northern California. Soundwave was scanning the available materials in the area, while Megatron examined some redwood trees.

"These trees look hardy" he said admiringly. "If they could talk, I'd recruit them in an instant."

"SCAN COMPLETE," said Soundwave, "PROCESSING INFORMATION."

Starscream was gathering up any fauna he could find, and bringing them to Megatron. Presently, he walked up with a brown bear.

"What do you make of this one?" said Starscream.

Megatron looked at the bear, and actually felt a bit unnerved. "It looks like a godless killing machine. Dispose of it immediately."

"With pleasure," replied Starscream. And he threw the bear into the air and fired his arm-mounted null rays at it. The bear disintegrated in an instant.

"I think I'm gonna enjoy conquering this planet!" said Starscream with glee.

"You and me both, Starscream!" agreed Megatron. They were finally getting along, now that their logic circuits were in working order again.

"PROCESSING COMPLETE" said Soundwave suddenly.

"Let's have it, Soundwave," ordered Megatron.

"THE MATERIALS WE NEED FOR BASIC SURVIVAL ARE ABUNDENT IN THIS AREA. THE TREES HAVE CARBON THAT CAN BE REFINED INTO CARBONITE. THE ORGANIC FLORA, AS WELL AS THE FAUNA, CAN BE REFINED INTO BIOPLASMA, WHICH WE CAN THEN FURTHER REFINE INTO ENERGON. LARGE SOURCES OF ORE AND NOVA CRYSTALS HAVE ALSO BEEN LOCATED. OTHER ELEMENTS INCLUDE SILVER, GOLD, COPPER, BRONZE, IRON, AND MINERAL OIL."

"Excellent!" said Megatron. "There's more than enough materials in the area to build a base. We should build it underground, lest we be spotted."

As it was nighttime, the Decepticons decided to power down for the night before scouting a location for their new underground base.

But before they did, Starscream approached Megatron.

"Megatron, I, uh, just wanted to...apologize for my actions on Cybertron. I certainly wasn't a model soldier, putting my own interests before the Decepticon cause."

Megatron was genuinely moved, but knew it wasn't all Starscream's fault. "I appreciate it, Starscream. I'm sorry, too, for putting us in this situation. My logic circuits weren't working right when I infected the core with Dark Energon. Lesson learned there."

"I'll admit, my logic circuits weren't working right, either. It was getting thrown against the wall by that Dinobot that set them right. I'll never gun for leadership ever again. If anything, that was the worst experience of my life. I think the Seekers are more my speed."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Starscream. Like you said, it was your logic circuits. That we have in common. At least now we can think rationally."

"So, hatchet buried?"

"Hatchet buried."

And the Decepticon leader and his second-in-command shook hands, now having a new-found respect for each other. And Megatron could tell Starscream was being sincere, since the first thing he did after awakening from stasis was pull him into the repair beam. Starscream's own thoughts were of relief, now that their feud for leadership was settled. Starscream also couldn't help but notice how much more pleasant Megatron was acting, not constantly barking orders and hitting or threatening his men, but rather talking with them and hearing their opinions.

The Decepticons settled down for the night, the moon shining bright. That would be their first conquest after taking over this planet, whatever it was called, Megatron thought, as he powered down, drifting off to sleep.


A/N: And there it is! Episode 1 of Transformers: The Great War! Let me know what you think!