The Autobots waited until Omega Scion was able to get the Orb working once again. When he succeeded, they looked into it once more...
The Maximals in their Beast Forms were positioned in the strange stone formation they saw earlier.
"This isn't a natural stone formation." Primal says waving a scanner around for anomalies.
"Somebody, somehow... built this thing." Rhinox surmised.
Even the Autobots themselves were confused.
"Yeah? Well, 'scuse my error message, but... I thought this planet was uninhabited." Rattrap spouted.
"Something else is odd." Optimus says, his scanner began beeping steadily but surely. "I'm getting an Energon reading. It's under this pile of rocks."
"Just like bait in a mousetrap." Rattrap shudders erratically then speaks "This place alternates my currents."
"Ya know, th' Energon on this planet doesn't fit with its geology. Hard t' believe it coulda formed naturally." Rhinox replies next.
Dinobot goes in close to the stone pile and speaks... "However it got here, we must remove it... before the Predacons do."
"Ah Dinobot, that Predacon chip still ticks inside your traitorous hide." Megatron said, showing up out of nowhere. " And I think we WILL take it. Yesss."
"The Predacons!" Bumblebee says reactively.
"We know kid. Cool down." Wheeljack commented.
"No Energon Crystal too small, I always say." Megatron proclaims, with Waspinator and Terrorsaur arrive, flying in front of their lord.
"Waspinator TERRORIZE!"
"Terrorsaur TERRORIZE!"
An ambush. Both airborne Predacons fire at Rattrap and Dinobot, prompting both to take cover. Tarantulas shows up in Robot Form and fires a barrage of machine gun fire, scattering Primal, Rhinox and Cheetor to cover.
"Man! Yer ol' friends don't miss a beat, do they?" Rattrap asks sarcastically.
No reply from the ex-Predacon.
"Dinobot! Maximize!" Dinobot says transforming to Robot Mode.
"Keep them away from the crystal!" Optimus orders.
"Oh yeah. sure. Give us the dirty work!" Rattrap says, in Robot Mode and brandishing his gun. He popped out of cover and fired at Scorponok positioned up high, but missed, aiming too low to knock Scorponok's balance down, so Cheetor rolled out of cover to knock the Predacon 2nd in command out of action.
"Scratch one." Cheetor quipped. (Bumblebee: I call that luck.)
He saw Tarantulas close and ready to fire, but Rattrap knocked him out with a shot to the shoulder, earning a comrade's smile.
"Flyers incoming." Rhinox noted, spotting Waspinator and Terrorsaur spinning around to make a strafe run.
"They're mine." Primal says, his jetpacks activated and ready to intercept. He eventually fires, knocking Waspinator out. Terrorsaur on the other hand, fires at the stone pile instead of Primal, destroying it (which nearly killed Rhinox) and releasing the Energon within, frustrating Megatron.
"Terrorsaur, you fool! You've released the crystal's energy, It is USELESS to us now! BACK TO BASE! BEAST MODE!" Megatron calls, the Predacons began fleeing before the 'crystal' can explode. (Smokescreen: Yeah, run away, you cowards!)
True to Megatron's word, the Energon within began to shake the formation to instability.
"That ain't good." Bulkhead commented.
"Beast Mode, Maximals! And prepare for Energon waves!" Optimus orders the regrouped Maximals, prompting them to flee, take cover to the farthest stone they can use and prepare to cover from an Energon wave that can overtake them. Instead of that, it creates a large flux that blasts out of the Earth and into the cosmos.
This left the Autobots confused.
"That's it?" Arcee asked.
"Whatever that was... I don't know what to say." Ratchet said.
"Amen to that, old man." Knockout added.
"I dearly hope whoever received that... they will have thoughts about it." Optimus surmised.
The Maximals moved out of cover, bewildered by the event.
"Like I said. Those stones aren't natural." Rhinox said.
"What in the galaxy was THAT?" Cheetor asked.
"Looked kinda like... a signal. But t'who?" Rhinox was just as confused as his comrades and the audience.
"Well, Perhaps we'll learn the answer -- someday." Primal answered. (Prime: Someday.)
Meanwhile, a strange object flies out of transwarp travel. It began entering the Earth's atmosphere, alerting both parties of it's arrival.
"Flyer! Incoming stasis pod!" Megatron notified.
Waspinator comes out at Megatron's command.
"Plot vector to crash point." he ordered.
Meanwhile, at the Axalon...
"Wrong profile for a stasis pod. But it isn't a meteor either." Rhinox says, the Axalon's computer attempting to analyze the unidentified object.
"Prime. Where's it headed?" Primal asked.
"Right for...the Standing Stones." Rhinox says after plotting it's trajectory.
Back at the Standing Stones, Optimus, with Dinobot as entourage, walked back and found the strange object.
"Yes... Looks like somebody answered that signal. But who?" Before Optimus can wonder more, he was suddenly knocked down to the ground.
Until Megatron and Waspinator (in Robot Form) arrived as well.
"Whatever this FASCINATING device is, we Predacons claim it as our own. Yesss." Megatron gloated, aggravating Dinobot.
"MEGATRON! TERRORIZE!"
"DINOBOT! MAXIMIZE!"
But before there could be combat, the object eventually glows, thrumming to life and it releases a wave of strange energy that incapacitates both parties, even Optimus himself. The energies were so strong that it surges golden energies, even when both Maximal and Predacon started glowing in their eyes and mouth.
"Ooooooh... fascinating indeed. A device like that is surely useful. It's a shame there is no such like that in here." Knockout commented.
Prime was stunned. His time in the data archives and Alpha Trion didn't indicate such a device before. Not even Trion made anything regarding such an object.
Ratchet was just as stunned as Prime.
The Autobots were astounded. They never heard of such technology before.
The object eventually blasts a beam of energy at Primal, dematerializing him.
The Autobots were shocked. Did they see Optimus Primal die? Prime didn't seem to think so but he couldn't come up with anything assuring as long as he was as shocked as his subordinates.
"Optimus..." Dinobot blurted before he passed out.
Back at the Axalon, at Beast Form, he later woke up, his vision returning after suffering daze as a result of the strange device at the Standing Stones.
"Maximal torture chamber!" Dinobot growled, leaped on Rattrap, then ran around the Axalon wildly, roaring erratically.
"Guess that device has left side effects that would nearly drive a Cybertronian to madness." Knockout surmised.
"Hey, power down! You're on our side now, remember?" Cheetor reminded, passively.
Dinobot shook off from the side effect and growls "Affirmative."
"And Maximals don't have torture chambers. Though, y'know, I could get behind that idea..." Rattrap commented, earning scowls from the audience.
"How did I get here?" Dinobot asked, out of convolution.
"We found y'dumped in front o' th' Command Base hatch. Scrapped down, and... alone." Rhinox answered.
"Jus' like an innocent orphan in a B-movie." Rattrap added. (Arcee: That's an overstatement.)
"Optimus?" asked Dinobot.
"Yeah. We were hopin' maybe th' innocent orphan baby could tell US what happened to Optimus." Rattrap asked suspiciously.
Dinobot took five seconds to gain his bearings and says...
"Optimus Primal was terminated."
This shocked the Maximals.
But the Autobots, they were not impressed with Dinobot's deceit. They figured it was another ploy for him to take over the Maximals.
"An alien probe has landed at the Standing Stones. It emitted an energy burst during Optimus' transformation. He vanished."
This left the Maximals in shock.
"Wait a minute. Why was he Transforming?" Rhinox asked, apparently not following Dinobot's lie.
"Predacon attack." Dinobot growled. "We have no time for further analysis now. We must make another attempt to secure the probe from the Predacons! Rattrap, come with me."
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa," Rattrap interrupted "Wait stand by, here! Who died an' made you Prime, scaleface?" he asked inquisitively.
"Optimus is certainly scrap. And I, as the most powerful of the group, shall replace him." Dinobot replied (Knockout: Overestimating much, Dinobot?)
"Anyone who disagrees may challenge me now. DINOBOT! MAXIMIZE!" he transforms and readies his weapons.
"You been messin' with th' wrong mouse, chopperface!" Rattrap says, unintimidated by Dinobot's challenging tone, aiming his gun at Dinobot's chin. Even if Dinobot prepared his sword.
Until Rhinox intervenes.
"WAIT. We're not Predacons here. We'll settle th' chain o' command in traditional Maximal fashion."
"Such is?" Smokescreen asked.
"By secret ballot."
"Democracy, as the humans say." Knockout says with a tsk.
Back at the Darksyde, Megatron and Waspinator in Beast Mode rose up from a platform after being dipped in two vats of white liquid, completely restored.
"Megatron back! Megatron back! Scorponok alone with Tarantulas and Terrorsaur, very bad..." Scorponok proclaims like a fanboy.
"Wait, I thought that was Waspinator's thing?" Bumblebee joked, making Smokescreen, Bulkhead and Wheeljack laugh.
Tarantulas rolled his optics and says "You and Waspinator were returned to us, badly damaged."
"Yessss. I remember now. Optimus... Optimus Primal! Terminated!" the news surprised the Predacons.
"Quickly! Scorpinok, you and Waspinator get back to the Standing Stones and guard that alien probe." Both aforementioned Predacons moved out.
"As for us, this is a perfect opportunity. Yesss. I know just how the weakling Maximals will respond to Optimus' death." Megatron monologued.
"Wow, our Megatron wasn't THAT much of a drama queen." Bulkhead said sarcastically.
"Well, he did that much of a speech when he was about to deactivate Starscream." Arcee pointed out.
"Confusion, bickering, recriminations. The perfect opportunity for a SURPRISE ATTACK." Megatron grinned viciously.
Back at the Axalon...
Rhinox was counting the ballots.
"One vote for Rattrap." Rattrap sneers.
"One vote for Dinobot." Dinobot smirks.
"One more vote for Rattrap,"
"and..."
Everyone was waiting to see the results that Rhinox was about to conclude.
"Another vote for Dinobot. It's a tie!"
Unfortunately, the results were not entirely favorable for the rest.
"HEY!"
"WHAT!?!"
"Which one o' you... you traitors voted for the Predacon?" Rattrap asked accusingly.
"It's a secret ballot. No one has to say who they voted for." Rhinox countered.
"Good guy, Rhinox. Always have you to make the votes on who's the favorite." Knockout commented sarcastically.
"Great system, your democracy. No mechanism to break a tie." Dinobot replied sardonically.
"Some power play, leatherlips. Ya know, I'm startin' ta wonder if that alien probe had anythin' ta do with Optimus' disappearin'." Rattrap jabbed, likely suspicious of Dinobot.
The ex-Predacon warrior was not having it, so he flipped over the table and replied...
"I've heard enough from this scrawny thief. I will break the tie and be your leader... by force if necessary."
Before a fight can break out... a strange transmission reaches the Axalon...
"Maximals! Come in, are you receiving?" No one was sure who that really is.
"What, your vocal receptors' broken in the crash? It's Primal!"
"Calm down, Bulk, they don't about it yet. It's likely to be a Predacon trick."
"You don't know that Jackie. That's definitely Primal in the comms."
"Maximal Command Base, this is Optimus."
"Optimus?" Rhinox asks and eventually replies in the comms.
"Optimus, this is Rhinox, where are you?"
"Hard to say. As near as I can figure, I have no body. My consciousness is intact, but my... my physical molecular structure is being stored and scanned... inside the alien probe."
"We'll come and getcha. Just keep static." Rattrap replies frantically.
"Just beware of a Predacon attack. They'll be after you, now that you're outnumbered. Rattrap, you're in charge." Primal replies, earning Rattrap a pat in the shoulder by Rhinox and a disapproving glare from Dinobot.
"So much for deciding who's in charge."
"What's with you and the rat, Arcee? Is there-" Smokescreen kept his trap shut by a blaster pointed at his chin.
"I. Don't. Know. Yet. Smokescreen. So keep that mouth shut. Or else you'll be going to Ratchet." Arcee threatened.
"Arcee, please don't. I don't want to-"
"I can help with that, old timer. Just keep your servos on." Knockout offered.
"Really? I didn't take you for the helper type, Knockout." the old medic replied.
"Don't be. I'm likely to help because I can't stand his mouth either."
"I stand corrected." Ratchet sighs.
"Though I'm sure you worked out the chain of command peacefully."
*BANG!* The Axalon began to shake.
"Well, you're right about one thing, anyway. We're under Predacon attack!" Cheetor notifies.
He was right. The Predacons have arrived, and are firing at the Axalon.
"Well, COMMANDER? What are your orders?" Dinobot asks. At first, the rat was unsure of the command bestowed on him but he began to muster as if he was fit for the job...
"Er... We're... we... we... We're scrapped if we sit inside. Prepare for a sortie." Rattrap ordered.
"Hmm... I know what you mean, Rattrap." Optimus commented.
"Why?" Ratchet asked.
"Leadership is not an easy feat to perform. I suspect Rattrap found out about this the moment he was given command by Primal."
"Sounds like you after you became Prime, sir?" Ultra Magnus jabbed, earning him a chuckle from Bulkhead and Wheeljack. Optimus paid it no heed.
"A frontal attack? Pure madness." (Bumblebee: Isn't that your thing when you faced Primal?)
"No, Rattrap's right. We'll be buried in here. Let's go." Rhinox says but Rattrap cuts him off.
"No, Rhinox, you get to work. We need a device to extract Optimus from that probe!"
"Oh, no." Dinobot, Cheetor and Rattrap mobilize for battle, leaving Rhinox alone.
The Maximals came down to prepare for battle.
"They've come to meet their death face to face!" Megatron proclaims and charges.
To battle, the Maximals go, with Dinobot at the forefront as he jumps and for long, he delivered Megatron a leaping kick to the face, knocking the Predacon leader a few feet away. While Ratttap and Cheetor take cover upon firing at Terrorsaur and Tarantulas.
The Autobots (except their higher-ups) left an oooh at the kick.
"Darn, Dinobot didn't even skip leg day!" Wheeljack joked.
"Where'd you-"
"Your human girlfriend, Miko. She's always one to leave human sayings."
Bulkhead shook his head at the mention of his friend.
"Fine. But she's NOT my girlfriend, Jackie!"
Wheeljack snorts "Yeah, right."
"Make a device t' extract physical molecular structure from an alien probe? Man, I gotta be a miracle worker!" Rhinox commented. But another bang caused the device he was working on to fall apart. "Oh no." then facepalms. (Knockout: Problems, problems.)
Megatron stands up, laughing at Dinobot's challenging pose. He charges at Dinobot and attacks head on, but for each attack he throws, it would deflected at Dinobot's solid defenses. So he threw a feint and a disarming blow to the side, bereaving Dinobot of his sword. But a warrior is never dependent on one weapon. Dinobot ducked Megatron's backfist and delivered a gut blow and a knee strike to Megatron's face. He then struck at Megatron with a flurry of varied punches too quick for the latter to react. Not just to his face but to his body as well.
Some of the Autobots cheered.
"Woohoo! Kick his aft Dinobot!" Smokescreen cheered.
"Hehehe, look at him go, heaving at Mr. Drama Queen there!" Wheeljack commented.
"Heh, guess that Megatron doesn't need a Prime to get his big mouth whooped! Go get him, tiger!" Bulkhead spoke next.
Optimus looked with certainity and confidence. While his battles with Megatron were relatively even in his odds, he was certainly sure that the former Decepticon leader and founder would find peace elsewhere in the stars.
Terrorsaur and Tarantulas concentrated fire at the Axalon, weakening it's shields.
"Wow, No." Rattrap panics.
Rattrap fires his gun rapidly, that it prompted Tarantulas to take cover and Terrorsaur to scatter to avoid the heavy gunfire.
He then turns to Dinobot. "Dinobot! The shield circuitry's hit. Get it back on line."
But the ex-Predacon was too busy with Megatron and replies at Rattrap. "I am currently engaged!" Dinobot retorted.
"That's an order! One more missile hit and our shields are gone for good!" Rattrap persistently ordered.
"Do it yourself, you coward." Arcee commented.
"Comon! PLEEEASE!?" No reply from Dinobot, so Rattrap eventually goes by himself. Amidst fierce hand to hand between Megatron and Dinobot, and heavy fire from Tarantulas, Rattrap eventually rushes for the controls in the elevator as quickly as he can.
"Not this time!" Rattrap quipped, earning surprise from Arcee, Smokescreen and Bumblebee.
Terrorsaur fires a pair of missiles, but before they can strike at the Axalon, Rattrap fires a quick shot at Terrorsaur and lands at the elevator with a roll, then quickly presses a button.
*WHRRRRM!!!*
The Axalon's shields came back to life and Terrorsaur was blasted off again.
Dinobot struggles against Megatron for quite a time as his arm was pinned and he received quite a whack from the Predacon lord. He fought back by unleashing his optic lasers, striking and sending Megatron away to where Tarantulas took cover.
"I suggest we withdraw, Megatron. The true prize - and reinforcements - await us at the Standing Stones."
Upon seeing the Maximals having the upper hand, Megatron replies...
"Yess. The alien probe. Withdraw at once!" The Predacons turned to Beast Mode and routed from the battle.
"You better start running, you yellow-plated glitches!" Smokescreen taunted.
But the Maximals felt the Energon overload in their bodies. (Smokescreen: Oh scrap I forgot about that? *whack* Ow.)
"We've been in robot mode too long! Beast Mode!" Rattrap ordered and everyone converted back to Beast Mode.
"Oh, like we needed ya to point that out." Cheetor commented sarcastically. (Bumblebee: He saved your aft, Cheetor!)
"Well, at least they're gone." Rattrap retorted.
"You were selfless in putting that shield back on line. I ought to have followed your command." Dinobot commented.
"No kidding, he put his neck out for that ship!" Knockout spouted.
"Perhaps there is more to Rattrap than what he hides behind." Optimus commented.
"Won't be surprised, the most cowardly tends to be the most cunning." Ultra Magnus added.
"I...am dishonored." Dinobot mulled.
"Next time." Rattrap replied.
The defenders moved back to base. Some time later at the Standing Stones, with Rhinox holding the device, they examined the alien probe.
"I dunno if this thing's goin' to work, But it's as ready as it's ever goin' to be." Rhinox says.
"Too quiet here." Rattrap says as he finds no Predacons around the Stones, but he still kept his guard.
"Didn't Megatron send Scorponok and Waspinator to guard the probe?" Bumblebee asked.
"He sure did. Must have turned aft when the Maximals got them outnumbered. They're probably outside the Stones regrouping with the rest of the Preds." Bulkhead answered.
"I thought for sure th' Predacons'd be makin' for the probe."
"Ha! Excellent prediction, "Commander" Rattrap!" Megatron says upon showing himself in force.
"Let's see how you fare in the battlefield."
The Predacons, having regrouped with Scorponok and Waspinator, opened fire at the Maximals.
They took cover and fired back, so Rattrap hastily gripes at Rhinox while firing at the Predacons....
"Rhinox! Get Optimus outta that probe!"
Rhinox was working the device on the probe.
"Optimus! Can y' hear me?!" Rhinox asked.
"Loud and clear, big guy." Primal replied, so Rhinox began the activate the device to extract Optimus.
"I'm goin' to try t' extract you!"
Megatron notices and gestures to Waspinator, who salutes and goes around the firing line.
Rhinox grunts when the device beeps red.
"It's not workin'!"
While Waspinator was sneaking behind Maximal lines...
"This whole area is fulla STABLE Energon radiation from th' probe...like this whole place is a single device!"
Rhinox looks up the reflection of the polished part of the probe and notices Waspinator sneaking up behind him. After it seems like Rhinox doesn't notice the wasp behind him, he suddenly turns, pulling out one of his rotrary cannons and unleashes a rapid barrage that dismantles the wasp to pieces. But Waspinator's broken body leans against the stone formation that begins to light up the entire formation.
Knockout chuckles "Pathetic. Even Starscream was more competent than that insect."
"Hey. This whole place IS a single device!" Rhinox proclaims after holstering his weapon. The entire energy output eventually opens the probe, unfurling a mysterious engine that is not obviously of Cybertronian origin. It released a gout of energy that materializes Optimus Primal back in the field.
"Look who's back... and feeling PRIME!" Optimus quips, preparing his wrist blaster and fires, knocking down all the Predacons. He lands down with the Maximals regrouping and readying their weapons once more at the pounded Predacons.
"Way to go, Optimus! Welcome back!"
"The day - and the probe - is yours, Optimus." Megatron says bitterly upon standing up. "Yess... Just beware: not all aliens are benefitiant after all..." Megatron proclaims foreshadowingly then turns tail, defeated.
"Ha! Just like the Decepticons!" Smokescreen commented.
"Rattrap. You commanded well in my absence." Primal commented.
"Command's a pain in the tail. Especially with this pack o' hyenas." Rattrap replied, earning snickers from, surprisingly, Arcee.
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Arcee?" Smokescreen asked, earning him a slap to the head from the aforementioned female Autobot.
"You can keep it." With command reverted to Optimus, they turned to the probe.
"I'm more concerned of this probe right now."
But the probe suddenly fades from existence, as if it never came true.
The Autobots looked at the phenomenon with confusion.
"What th' spotted heck was THAT all about!?" Cheetor asked, confused. (Smokescreen: Yeah, what gives?!)
"I don't know. I suppose they found out everything they needed to know about us."
"Yeah. They know we got destructive capability... an' reasonin' power." Rhinox says.
Optimus himself was as puzzled. Who was responsible for creating such a device?
"But why would they want to know? And more importantly... who are THEY? Friends? Enemies? Or something... more?" Dinobot asked, without an answer.
"Good question. I wonder when we'll find out the answer?" Primal asked.
Whoever they are, whatever they are, what are they to be able to create such a technology? It seems no one knows for sure. There are possibilities that there is more to these aliens than a mere probe, but sadly, no one will ever know.
The Autobots were left in the dust of confusion as the Orb eventually shorts and turns off...
"Oh dammit."
"What's wrong, Omega Scion?"
"The Orb's suffering from outmoding. I have to upload to keep it intact. I suggest you leave, least you suffer from boredom."
The Autobots eventually leave, while Omega Scion was working on the Orb of the Future.
"What's on your mind, Optimus?"
"I don't know. With the Archives destroyed, I cannot find a single source about the aliens responsible for that probe. I figured you have backed up everything before the War, Ratchet?"
"Yes, I have. With Alpha Trion's key of course."
"Good. Let us make a discovery. We will find out who are these mysterious benefactors..." as Optimus Prime walks with his Autobots out of the building.