Megatron held his ground as more of the Scourge attacked upon Obsidian's orders. Several attacked but fell at his peds. Darksteel and Sky Lynx flanked him on each side in their beast modes, blowing jets of flames at anything that came near.

     "Where the Pits did Predaking disappeared to?!" Airachnid asked, swinging her blades at the Scourge. She vented all her rage at the Reptilicons for the death of Longhorn.

     "I don't know! Just hold your ground!" Megatron ordered when the groundbridge opened behind them. Autobots and Predacons appeared from out of the portal, engaging the enemy.

     Arcee drew four photon arrows at the same time, letting them fly to strike down four targets. War-Talon had her twin blades drawn as she descended upon a troop attacking Megatron. The warlord grabbed the warhammer from a Scourge and pummeled the Reptilicon on the jaw.

     "Incoming!" Blight shouted as he and Knockout held a water cannon at the Scourge. They doused everyone with water and sprayed more on the approaching Scourge. The attackers stopped their advance and began to shudder. They began to drop to the ground and began convulsing. One by one the worms wriggled out of their hosts, squirming in pain as the water began to burn them like acid. Knockout had a few waterbombs loaded on a makeshift catapult and sent them flying into the Scourge. One hit Obsidian and she screamed in pain.

     "How-?" Megatron began to ask when War-Talon spun around, her blade nearly grazing his neck cabling hadn't his left fore-servo blocked it. Her optics went wide as she stared at the Prime.

     "Y-you still exist?" she asked in a voice filled with disbelief. "But how? You-"

     "Talk later! We got them on the run!" Knockout said, squirting water on the parasites. Obsidian transformed into her beast mode, roaring a challenge as she blew flames at her enemies. Another waterbomb struck her but in her beast mode, she felt scant effects of the water. But still enough to send searing pain through her armor.

      Megatron charged up his cannon and fired, hitting Obsidian full in the chest. She roared in pain, feeling the searing heat wrack her frame. She shot out an intense electrical discharge from one of her dragonheads, electrocuting her soldiers that they blew up in flames. She used the smoke to cover her escape, leaving her Scourge behind.

     War-Talon pulled her gaze away from Megatron and began giving orders to her Predacons. Immediately, they had the Scourge drink what was left of the water they had. They soon had them pacified.

     "They aren't with her," Twin Strike said, looking around for their comrades. "Grim and the others. They're not with her!"

     "Slag! They should've been with her!" Sky Stalker said in frustration. "Why aren't they here?" He then saw Megatron and approached the mech. "Lord Oziamuth," he called to him.

     War-Talon spun around upon hearing Sky Stalker call Megatron with his other name. She stared at him as he spoke with the Predacon as if they have been comrades for eons. She saw Sky Stalker bow before the mech several times, thanking him profusely. When their gazes met, she felt as if her world stopped spinning, her intake closing, her pulsating spark increased in rhythm. She only realized then that the tall mech stood before her, the tip of her helm just below his optic ridges.

     "Do we know each other?" he asked her, making her look up into his optics. "Have we met before?" he asked.

     "I... I... No! No! No, we don't," she replied, but her spark said otherwise. Flashes of a hidden memory stream ran through her processor, his faceplate overlaying the visage looking down on her. She kept denying that this wasn't real, but her spark keeps telling her that it is real. He is real! She bowed her helm to avert her optics from his gaze when she saw energon dripping from his servo. She vented in surprise, taking his left servo to find it cut. She remembered when he blocked her swordstrike.

     "This is just a small cut, my femmeness," Megatron said, pulling his servo away but she held on. He can't understand what was happening. The femme beast before him acted as if they have met before but she denies it. Yet at the back of his processor, that nagging feeling kept pestering him to hold her close for no apparent reason. Why would he do that? What is she to him? What does she mean to him?

     War-Talon grabbed Megatron's injured left servo and did what any wounded beast would do. She licked his wound. Megatron was shocked for a moment before he realized that she was merely cleaning his wound. When she was through, his servo felt a bit better.

     Just then, Darksteel found the entrance to where Predaking fell through. Megatron ordered Arcee and the Autobots to get the rescued Scourge back to their base. Meanwhile, the Predacons and Airachnid joined Megatron in entering the cavern below them. When they dropped themselves to the cave floor, he set off a flare to illuminate the atrium. They stood in awe at the ancient statues lining both walls leading towards the altar where they found Predaking kneeling.

     "Predaking?" Megatron spoke, tapping the mech beast on his shoulder. "What happened? Are you alright?"

     "I need to know," Predaking replied, pointing to his statue standing before them. "Who was I? What was I before I knew myself as Predaking?"

     Sky Lynx looked intently at the statue. "My liege, your resemblance is very striking," he said when Darksteel came pulling out what looked like a fossilized bone.

     "I may not know, but this mayhaps had been where Shockwave found your fossilized remains," Megatron said. He stepped forward towards the statue to investigate further. He tapped into his vid-comm to give Miko a live videofeed of what they have found.

     War-Talon didn't know if her pulsating spark stopped or if the world around her stopped, her gaze upon the mech beast. Airachnid was startled since she haven't seen War-Talon before. As the femme beast approached the mech beast kneeling on the floor, Airachnid gave out a shocked vent, making Predaking turn towards her.

     "Great Primus," she softly vented, staring at both Predacons. Megatron came running when he heard her, only to stop when he saw the two together. Even he was dumbfounded.

     Since War-Talon stood behind him, Predaking couldn't understand the expressions upon the faceplates of those around him. He stood up in confusion when he turned and saw War-Talon behind him. Shock was evident upon both their faceplates. He took a step back, trying to make sense of everything, until she spoke to break the silence.

     "F-Father?" War-Talon asked, holding on to hope that she isn't mistaken. A voice shouted in surprise and Megatron remembered that he still had his vid-comm running. It was Miko.

     "Holy -! She's his daughter!?" they heard her scream when Megatron switched off their link.

     "Father?" Megatron said inquisitively. "The human word for..."

     "Sire?" Predaking murmured, staring at the femme who shares his features. This is too much for him to take in at once. First, he discovers an underground temple with his statue in it, then, he discovers he has a living offspring here on Earth. So many questions spun in his processor, giving his helm an ache.

     "This... This is all too much to take," Predaking said, shaking his helm from side to side, leaning towards the altar. He leaned on the stone and a sharp click was heard. The floor rumbled and a mosaic appeared at their peds. The patterns began to shift and opened a portal just before the statue. Then came silence.

     Megatron radioed back to base of their discovery and Predaking stepped into the opening in the floor. There is a spiral staircase leading down and his peds were just enough at each step. He ventured lower, followed by Megatron and War-Talon. Airachnid stopped the other Predacons as they moved to follow.

     "Don't! Let them discover what they need to know," she said to them, holding out her servo to Darksteel. The mech beast nodded in agreement and led the others away from the portal.

     The staircase led to another cavern, much larger than the one above them. Megatron was about to set off a flare when Predaking transformed into his beast form. He huffed a fireball at a torch hanging on the wall. He returned to his robot form and took the torch in his servo. He lit another torch and Megatron took it. Together, they lit the torches along the way until they came to a sealed door. Predaking placed a servo upon the door and tried to make it budge. Unfortunately, it was securely locked.

     "It looks like we'll need a key," Megatron said. "There has to be a keyhole somewhere here."

     "This will suffice," Predaking said, drawing out his Infernal Sword. He was about to smash through the door when War-Talon stopped him. She had been inspecting the door and something caught her attention.

     "Wait!" she exclaimed. She took the sword from him and walked up to the right side of the door. There is a visible slot on the side where she slipped the sword into. The sword fits perfectly! She gave it an upward push and they heard a loud clunking sound of gears working. The doors swung open and a bright light greeted them. When their optics adjusted, Megatron looked surprised.

     "Vector Sigma?! Here??" he said in disbelief. How did the collective wisdom of the Primes get to this place? As the chamber pulsated with energon, the pedestal upon the center glowed, showing three sigils floating in mid-air: Autobot, Decepticon, and Predacon. Then an image appeared before them. Orion Pax stood before them in his archivist uniform as one of the clerics of the Iacon Archives.

     "If you have received this message, then you have successfully discovered Vector Sigma," Orion began since he was merely a recorded message. "Its transfer through worlds was made by the Primes in order that the threat of an ancient peril does not corrupt the collective wisdom herein."

     "Wait! The Primes had foreseen the threat coming?" Megatron asked. "Optimus, answer me!"

     "Know only this. The three sigils herewith are the Cybertronian races who, together, must defeat this evil that shall consume us all," the recording went on. A wall opened behind the pedestal, revealing an ancient relic once thought long forgotten.

     "The Requiem Blaster," Megatron said in awe. "Megatronus Prime's artifact. A weapon that possesses unlimited power." He reached for it and when his digits touched it, he felt the power of the Prime emanate from it. "Glorious," he said in reverence.

     The recording went on. "Unicron must not get his servos on the Star of the Solstice Tide. Should he succeed, all life shall cease to exist." The recording ended and Orion faded.

     Predaking and War-Talon watched as Megatron replaced his cannon with the Requiem Blaster. He slid Oziamuth's blade into the sheath underneath the cannon and looked carefully at the details. War-Talon stepped back and accidentally touched the Predacon sigil with her elbow. The sigil glowed and flew around them in circles. Then a voice spoke to them.

     "Prepare thyself," it said and they were enveloped in bright lights. Images zoomed around them, images of a time beyond time. Flecks of light entered through their helms, opening pockets of memories hidden deep within their processors.

     War-Talon screamed in fright as memories of the upheaval that imprisoned her in the glacier surfaced. Predaking stood stunned, watching the images of his reign on Earth as the monarch of countless Predacons. Megatron saw his past intertwining with those of War-Talon's memories. He was right. She knew him!

     Then the same vision that the two mechs saw on the Great Scion Reef played before their optics. Predaking and Oziamuth battling each other! The scene was so vivid, they felt each blow, each struggle, each hardship as the two combatants tried besting the other until Oziamuth fell to Predaking's might. In one fell stroke, Oziamuth's helm rolled upon the scorched sands. Then came a scream! Deathworms were attacking the Predacons! Predaking was oblivious of the carnage, but instead, he reveled in it! A Deathworm emerged before him, its sharp dentas dripping with energon from its latest victim.

     "Mother!!!" War-Talon cried out, her memory of that fateful day showing vividly before her. A Deathworm had her mother in its jaws, crushing her mercilessly! Then she saw her father standing beside another Deathworm, raising Oziamuth's helm in a triumphant cry. "NO!!! Oziamuth!!!" she screamed.

     The Deathworm beside Predaking drew back its clawed tentacle and plunged it into Predaking's chestplate, ripping out his spark. But the Predacon didn't even flinch. He toppled down into the sands and as he expired, a larva crept out of his helm. Before he totally expired, he managed to whisper his final words. "Long... live.... Predacons..."

     The scene shifted. Oziamuth and War-Talon stood upon a plateau somewhere in the northern steppes of Ancient Sumeria. They stood in a loving embrace, her helm resting peacefully upon his chestplate. There were onagers roaming about the grassy steppes, foraging while their foals played around. The sky was cloudless and the winds brought the cold chill from the north. Neither spoke to the other, just letting the moment seep into their memories. And they remained that way, watching the setting sun dazzle them with its bright colors.

     The scenes faded, and when they came online, the three of them found themselves lying on the floor. Neither one spoke as they picked themselves up. They looked at each other, not knowing what to say. The pedestal was no longer there along with the sigils.

     War-Talon vented heavily. Reliving her worst fears wasn't what she had expected to find in this place. But one thing was truly certain for her now; Predaking is her father and Oziamuth is Megatron.

     Predaking was venting hard when he roared and punched Megatron in the helm. He pounced on the downed Decepticon, putting his knee upon his victim's chestplate.

     "You worthless piece of slag!" Predaking growled, holding Megatron by the neck cabling as he was about to send another punch when War-Talon held back his servo. He looked towards her, seeing her pleading optics as she shook her helm. He angrily got up, staring at his daughter as she knelt beside Megatron.

     "Are you badly damaged?" she asked and said another word without even thinking. "Beloved...?"

     Megatron saw her optics widen in surprise from what she had just blurted out. He sat up, feeling if his neck cabling is still attached to his helm after seeing how Predaking chopped it off. He got up to his peds and faced an enraged Predaking.

     "You mated with my offspring?!" the Predacon growled at him.

     "Calm down, Predacon," Megatron said, wiping away the trickle of dark energon from the corner of his lipplate. "Or should I call you Lord Bahamut from now on?"

     Predaking, or Bahamut, smirked. "I have no use of that title here, insect. But mating with Gamaera?" They both turned to War-Talon and she blushed a deep blue.

     "This is all very awkward," she uttered, trying to calm herself. She shyly looked at Megatron and there was that spark of that moment in time, sending a tingling into her circuits.

     "That is all in the past now," Megatron said. "Let us all move on. Apparently, our memories were intentionally suppressed. We can only assume there was a reason for it."

     Meanwhile, Airachnid's commlink caught a transmission from Ratchet. She tapped her helm to reply but heard screaming in the background. Someone's voice shouted and there was an explosion. She listened intently and her optics grew wide.

     The three suddenly heard sounds of running peds headed their way. They stepped out of the chamber to find Airachnid and the rest running towards them.

     "Megatron! It's Ratchet! The base is under attack!" she shouted as they approached.

     "What?" Megatron asked but he feared he knew the answer. Obsidian couldn't have gotten that far unless she had help from someone. He tapped into his comm-link to contact Ratchet. When the doctor did respond, Megatron heard the familiar whine in the background of an aircraft he was all too familiar with. His faceplate mirrored his incredulousness, finding it hard for him to believe what he just heard.

     "What is it?" War-Talon asked, seeing the disbelief etched upon his optics.

     "Soundwave."