Miko led the way through the canyons as their convoy came to the dig site where they found the ruins. The canyon corridors were narrow, just wide enough for a small car to pass through. The Cybertronians were lucky that the corridors were high for them to walk through. The Vehicons carried most of the equipment they need for their expedition, hoisting it over their backs as they trudged along the narrow canyons.

Megatron surveyed the area in his aerial mode, taking notice of some wild creatures grazing nearby. He reconnotiered the area for any Predacons that may be lurking nearby.

"Enjoying the view?" Springer asked, flying close by. He has opted for an Apache attack helicopter for his alt mode being a triple-changer.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Autobot, but this world has its beauty," Megatron replied. "To think that I attempted to terraform it into what Cybertron was in our past. Now, I feel... gratitude... for Orion's intercession into my plans."

"I've been off-world most of my existence to know Optimus Prime," Springer said. They banked left to make another pass before returning to their comrades. "But he was your friend before the war."

"And I was a miner in the Kaon Mines before," Megatron answered, hearing a gasp through their commlinks. It seems their lines were open through their conversation.

Raf's voice came into the other end of the line. "I never pictured you to be a miner," he said.

"Kid, the Kaon Pits were penal colonies for those you'd call criminals on our world," Springer said.

"I was birthed and sired in that horrid place," Megatron added, a tint of hatred lingered in his tone of voice. "The only consolation I had was the lobbing tournaments held each solstice."

"I never pictured you to be a lob fanatic," said Springer with surprise.

Megatron chuckled. "My lobbing team held the most recorded wins in solstice. We may not have been champions in the finals, but besting the other teams was the thrill." A blip sounded on the scanner, prompting him to change course. "I have just detected a signal from what looked like a vein of energon nearby."

"I don't detect any," Springer said, tuning his sensors to confirm their leader's claim.

"There is, Springer," Raf said, staring at the blip on the carrier's long-range scanners. "It's unlike the energon we're used to."

The blip registered in Springer's scanner after adjusting the wavelength. "Dark energon," he uttered. "The Blood of Unicron."

"The same one that courses through my veins," Megatron muttered, transforming in mid-flight, landing solidly on the ground on his peds. His eyes glowed eeriely as his sensors surveyed for the source of his power. Springer transformed as well, standing beside the former warlord.

"This place looks too peaceful," he said, drawing out his blaster.

"A little too peaceful," Megatron agreed. "Watch yourself. Dark energon rarely surfaces unless something made it to do so."

"Like Unicron waking up?" Springer asked, walking behind Megatron as they entered the small rift between two boulders.

"Or drilled up from beneath the Earth," Megatron finished, holding up his left servo in a clenched fist. He quickly motioned for them to proceed quietly as their audios received noise from up ahead. They followed a small path that led to a cavern where the noise was louder coming from inside.

"Rafael, this is Springer. We found a cavern over forty..." Springer checked his coordinates. "Forty- to fifty-hundred clicks due south by south-west of your current position."

"You're in rough terrain, near the mountains bordering the south rim," Raf said as another blip appeared on the scanner. "You've got company coming."

Megatron acknowledged and they immediately took to hiding. They heard the flapping of wings as something large came sweeping low above their hiding place. A shadow moved across the cavern, entering the cavern with sure gaits. Springer adjusted the barrel on his blaster for a sniper-shot. Megatron drew out his blade, ready to pounce upon their unexpected visitor.

Sky Stalker grabbed a cache of energon from his secret stash, taking care that nothing spills. He carefully dipped a small vial into the dark energon, swirling it around to check the consistency, before heading into the back of the cavern. A weak squawk greeted him.

"Take this. It would stop the pain," he said handing the vial to a tiny claw. "Please be well, young one."

"Too bad I couldn't say the same for you, Predacon," Megatron said, drawing his blade at the base of Sky Stalker's rearhelm. "What use have you of that defiled energon?" he asked.

Sky Stalker was about to spin around when Springer had his blaster aimed directly at his right optic. "Uh-uh, big bird. Drop it," Springer threatened. Sky Stalker had several sharp throwing daggers hidden in his servo, ready to strike hadn't he had been detained by the yellow-and-green mech. The daggers fell softly upon the sand. The Predacon may be taller, but two against one wasn't fair. Then the weak voice called out, chirping pitifully.

"What is it?" Megatron asked. Sky Stalker lit up a tiny illuminator above his helm to shower them in light. He turned his helm towards a hapless sparkling, pitifully weak with starvation. A vial of dark energon lay by its side. He looked at Megatron, his optics looked pleadingly.

"My sparkling," Sky Stalker said. There were surprised looks upon the faces of his captors. "Our Alpha gave birth to these younglings. We were assigned to a clutch. None of them survived except for this one."

Megatron looked at the pitiful state the sparkling was in. Its body looked frail and brittle and its wings were bent out of shape. It tried to cry but no sound came from its voice modulators. Only streams of energon tears showed the pain it was going through. Megatron drew away his blade.

"Stand down, Springer," he ordered his honor guard. "Radio base to have the ground bridge open at these coordinates. We have an emergency situation."

Springer looked baffled. "Are you sure, Prime? What if this is just a trap?"

"Do as I ordered you to, Autobot!" Megatron growled, optics blazing with power. He touched the sparkling's forehelm, pressing it gently with his clawed foredigit. Immediately, the sparkling folded upon itself, turning into its protoform state. But its spark is too weak and so is its vitals.

Sky Stalker panicked! "No! The sparkling will not survive in deep space!" he cried, reaching for the protoform.

"Who said anything about sending it into deep space?" Megatron asked. A ground bridge appeared behind them and Ratchet came through with a stasis pod.

"Hurry! If what Rafael said is correct, the energon reserves on the desert-cruiser would help stabilize the sparkling's vital signs," said the medic. It seems that Rafael kept their communication lines open for him to listen into their conversation. He deduced that perhaps the dark energon was making it sick.

"No! She must thrive on dark energon! Or else the Alpha will turn her into a mindless Reptilicon!" Sky Stalker exclaimed, making the three turn to him.

"A femmeling?" Ratchet said in astonishment.

Megatron grabbed Sky Stalker by the neck cabling, making the taller mech meet his blazing optics. "Listen, you fragging slag! I thrive on dark energon! It feels like the Pits of Unicron has me in its thrall each waking vorn of my spark existence! And I will not see another Cybertronian; Autobot or Decepticon, or even a Predacon, suffer my fate!" He moved closer for their optic lenses to reflect upon each other. "The sparkling is coming with us to rid of your influence."

"W-who really are you?" Sky Stalker asked in confusion. "You... that voice. I recognize that voice!"

"I am Prime. I am Megatronus Prime," admitted the Prime.

Sky Stalker shook his helm. "No, you are not a Prime," he said, freeing himself from his grip. "You are no Prime," he uttered before adding, "Oziamuth."

"What did you say?" Megatron asked, surprised.

"Prime! Let us go!" Springer shouted, grabbing him by the servo arm.

"Prime!" Rafael called over the comm. "Prime, I've got blips heading your way and they don't look friendly!"

Megatron turned and joined the others through the ground bridge before it closed, leaving Sky Stalker looking stunned. When they vanished, Grimwing and the others arrived moments later. They found him kneeling on the sands, looking defeated, stunned.

"Sky!" Twin Strike called out to his friend. He knelt before the mech, grabbing him by the shoulder joints and shook him. "Sky! What happened here?" he asked.

"What is this place?" Ripclaw asked.

Vertebreak noticed the cache of dark energon stacked in a dark corner of the cavern. "Well, looky here," he spoke, opening one of the caches. "It's just what I fear. Blood of the demon, darkness bourne. In the Pits of Unicron you will be torn."

Grimwing looked angrily at Sky Stalker. "What is the meaning of this?" he heatedly asked. "What are you doing in a place like this? If Lazerback hadn't detected your sudden impulse..."

"The Cybertronians have a sparkling," Sky Stalker muttered.

The other Predacons were stunned. Grimwing looked very displeased. "How!? We've cremated the last one from the clutch..."

"Not all of the clutch expired, Grimwing. One survived but just barely." Sky Stalker lowered his helm in remorse. "Forgive me! I had been nourishing it with Unicron's blood in order to spare her from Alpha's dementia!"

Ripclaw was aghast! "Sky!? How could you!? That sparkling..." She trailed off, turning about in case she does bodily harm to her fellow Predacon.

But Grimwing couldn't hold back his emotions and lashed out at Sky Stalker. The back of his clenched servo sent the mech beast sprawling to the sands. He transformed into his beast mode and pinned down his intended victim with his massive claw. The others grabbed at the mech beast, pulling at his claws to stop him from killing Sky Stalker.

"The Prime!" Sky Stalker screamed, one of the clawed digits digging into his chestplate. "He isn't who he seems to be!" The digit dug deeper, breaching the inner walls of his spark chamber. "I heard his voice!" The claw just grazed his spark. "He's Oziamuth!!" he cried out in pain.

Grimwing's optics widened. He drew away his claws and transformed back to his robot mode. "Did you say Oziamuth?" he asked, totally disbelieving.

Ripclaw tore a piece of absorbent foam from the sparkling's bedding and rushed over to Sky Stalker. She pressed it over his chestplate where the claw dug into, where energon was seeping through. She then gave Grimwing a warning glare.

"Are you certain, Sky?" Twin Strike asked, his spark pulsating with worry, and mixed excitement.

"Let's get you back to base, then we'll talk later," Ripclaw said, helping their comrade to his peds. She glared at Grimwing but said nothing to the tall mech. "Vertebreak, destroy this place. Leave no trace of that blasphemous poison," she commanded.

Vertebreak nodded. As soon as everyone has gotten out, he and Lazerback fired their cannons at the cavern's ceiling, causing a cave-in. They detonated the dark energon, sending it back to the vile corruptor from whence it came from.

Elsewhere, Megatron felt the destruction of the dark energon rip through his being. He dropped to the floor of the desert-carrier, his entire frame shaking with painful convulsions. Bumblebee saw him fall, prompting him to run to his aid.

"Prime, what's wrong?" he asked, helping Megatron get up on a berth nearby.

"I... I just felt the destruction of dark energon rend my entire being asunder," replied Megatron. He sat on the berth, the convulsions rapidly ebbing away. "Since I am one with Unicron, what he feels, I feel tenfold."

"Is there any way to rid yourself of His power?" Bumblebee asked, surprising himself for his concern for the one who ripped out his voice modulator during the wars.

"Only one," replied Megatron, "but I doubt if I'll allow you another opportunity to do so." His optic ridges came down menacingly, his voice became dangerously cold.

"Should the opportunity present itself once more," Bumblebee replied, meeting the warlord's intense stare, "I will not hesitate in taking it, Prime."

Megatron gave a cruel smirk before getting up. "I will hold you to your word, Autobot. For now, we must ensure the safety of our new charge. I do hope the good doctor has everything under control."

"You bet I have," came Ratchet's voice from the anteroom. "If we haven't gotten that sparkling here any sooner, it could have perished with atrophy."

"How does the patient fare, doctor?" Megatron asked.

"She's currently in induced stasis to lessen its pain, Prime," Ratchet replied, although his spark squirms at the thought of addressing their new leader with his departed friend's title.

"Those Predacons would want their sparkling back," Bumblebee said. "They're probably on their way here."

"I doubt it, scout. The one they called Sky Stalker hid the last surviving sparkling from their Alpha for fear of her being corrupted," Megatron said, recalling the words Sky Stalker said. "He believed feeding her with dark energon would preserve her from their Alpha's influence."

"Preposterous! It damned nearly had the poor one expired!" Ratchet remarked, heatedly.

"Be that as it may, the Predacons have now become our primary concern," Megatron said. "With their entire clutch expired, and their Alpha's order for my capture, they will definitely be getting aggressive. Unless..."

"Unless we have Predacon allies to assist us," Bumblebee said, looking at Megatron. The Prime nodded. "That would be an impossibility considering they're on Cybertron and Predaking hates you."

"Maybe. But if we can get him and his lackeys on our side, we will have a fighting chance against them and the Scourge," Megatron replied.

"Sounds logical, considering they're more in numbers," Ratchet agreed.

"I'll head back to Cybertron to try and convince the Predacons to join our ranks," Megatron said as Springer and Wheeljack appeared by the doorway.

"Right. When do we leave?" Wheeljack asked.

"I'll need you both here to protect the humans," Megatron said, surprising the two. "The Predacons would try something to get the sparkling back. I hope we get back soon with our Predacon allies."

"I'm going with you," Bumblebee said. "You'll need a scout to help you find them quickly."

Megatron looked directly at Bumblebee. "I can do this on my own, scout. Your abilities will be of better use here in aiding your team. Besides, I still have my Decepticons back on Cybertron to aid me."

"At least have one of the Autobots in Iacon to aid you," Ratchet insisted. "I'll notify Ultra Magnus of your return at once."

Megatron nodded. "I appreciate the concern, doctor. Very well. Have Blitzwing and one of your Autobot cavaliers meet me in Iacon."

"Hot Rod is on active duty. He'll be there to meet you," Wheeljack said, mentioning the young Autobot. "But why a cavalier?"

"I'll need fresh bait to lure in the Predacons," Megatron said without even blinking an optic. The Autobots were taken aback with surprise.

"You're joking, right?" Springer asked.

"You're not...?" Wheeljack muttered, his servo slowly sliding to the hilt of his blade.

"You monster," Ratchet hissed through gritted dentas.

"At ease, Autobots. If I intended to use bait, the scout would be the most likely candidate, considering he had the most experience in battling them." Megatron fought a grin at the thought of Bumblebee being chased by Predaking.

The tension was intense when Raf's voice came through the speakers, mimicking how Soundwave spoke. "Megatronus Prime: ground bridge to Harbinger space bridge activated," he said, fighting the urge to laugh.

But Megatron wasn't amused. As soon as the ground bridge opened to take him to the Harbinger's space bridge, he spun around and walked through the portal without looking back. When the portal closed, only then did the Autobots relax.

~~~~~

Jack saw to the security detail as another night came creeping in. The Vehicons stood around the perimeter, optic scanners switching to infrared and night vision. Arcee watched over the human camp with Knockout helping in setting up the communications array. Miko helped in getting dinner ready for the team, even with the preparation of the energon bars the Cybertronians eat for fuel. Angela looked earnestly at the manner how she prepared the energon bars.

"Here," Miko said, handing Angela a spatula. "You mix it like this then fold it on itself." She expertly poured the batch in large pans for the batch to cool before cutting them in bars. She scooped a glop and tasted it. "Tastes like crude oil in a can," she smirked with a wink.

Angela dipped a taste, grimacing at the flavor. "Ugh!!! It's terrible! And they eat this?!" she gagged, grabbing a tumbler to wash off the taste.

"Takes getting used to," Miko laughed, taking a swig from her tumbler. She turned to look at Jack holding a pair of binoculars to survey the area. "Hey, Ange. Send this over to those guys, why don'cha? I'm finishing this batch for the 'Bots"

Angela took the tray of sandwiches to where Jack and her other teammates were gathered. Another girl carried the drinks for them. Jack noticed Arcee was kind of preoccupied in her thought-stream. He walked up to Miko and she gave him an energon bar.

"I know, I know. You can thank me later," she quipped, pouring in the last batch of fuel for their robot friends. Jack smiled, blowing her a kiss. "Eewww!! Gross!" she pretended to shriek, but laughed anyway.

Arcee heard Jack approach her with the treat in his hand. Her lip plates curved into a smile, but the anxiety in her optics were pretty obvious. They both sat on a rock to eat their food.

"It's that mech, isn't it?" he asked, looking at how she picked at the crusted fuel. She was taken aback, gingerly looking at her human partner. "I knew it. You can't hide it from me, y'know. So what's the scoop? You and Springer had been an item?"

"You talk just like Miko," she replied, taking a small bite from her energon bar. She kept silent as they ate, just letting the feel of his presence beside her make the anxiety fade a bit.

Jack finished his sandwich before he noticed Arcee hadn't even eaten half of her bar. He stood up and turned to look her straight in her faceplate. "Come'n, Arcee. Talk to me. What's bothering you?"

"N-nothing," she replied, taking another small bite from her bar.

"For as long as I have known you, pal, nothing meant you're holding back something," he said. "Springer's quite a guy, I mean, mech. How long have you known each other?"

"We didn't. I mean, we haven't really met," she answered but her tone gave her away. Jack raised an eyebrow at her, obviously unconvinced. Arcee vented with defeat, hanging her helm and shaking it. She raised her helm to see him standing in front if her, that quizzical look upon his face meant for her to come clean. She threw her servos in the air with frustration, knowing she isn't getting off this easy.

"Okay, okay. So we met during our early upgrade. I took to some liking to him because... y-you know... that kind of stuff."

"What? You're saying you had a crush on this guy?" asked Jack, smiling broadly, trying hard not to laugh.

"Who's got a crush on who?" came Miko's voice and the two turned to see her walking up to them. "Okay, Blue. Spill it. Y'know you ain't getting away from me that easily. What's the deal with you and Springer?"

"I think that'll have to wait," Jack said when he heard the familiar motor of a muscle car approaching camp. Sure enough, Bumblebee came rolling in with Ratchet and Wheeljack behind. Springer came in from above in his aerial alt mode. Arcee chucked her bar and stood up to meet the new arrivals.

Ratchet transformed when they reached camp. Bumblebee let Raf out before transforming. They met Arcee and the others by the medic-bay when Springer came walking in with a stasis pod in his servos. He stepped inside with Ratchet while Wheeljack and Bumblebee gave the details to the others.

"Prime is on Cybertron to recruit the Predacons?" asked Jack, stunned by the news. "Is he crazy!? Predaking will kill him!"

"That is a live Predacon baby in our medic tent!?" Miko asked in bewilderment. She jumped back and ran into the tent with several of her teammates following right at her heels. Everyone was excited to see a Cybertronian infant.

"Oh, great! The Predacons are after our afts because we took their sparkling hostage!?" Arcee exclaimed, her servos on her hip armors. "What was Megatron thinking!? We'll definitely get slaughtered, no thanks to his insanity!"

"Calm down, Arcee," Bumblebee said, holding up his servos. "Prime merely rescued the sparkling from starvation. Sky Stalker only wanted to protect it from their Alpha."

"And who's going to protect us from their Alpha?" Arcee asked, gritting her dentas in anger. "He's totally gone haywire to deduce logically if Predaking does not rip him out a new one!"

"Uh, Arcee...?" Wheeljack tried to speak but Arcee turned her attention at him.

"And you!" she said, pointing a digit at his faceplate. "Aren't you and Springer supposed to be his bodyguards? Why are you both here?"

"We have orders from Prime to guard you from the Predacons should they decide to attack," came Springer's voice from the tent's opening. He stepped out of the canopy for a moment after Miko ran inside with her troop. "And that means guarding you, too."

"Really? How considerate of Prime to have two brave warriors watch over us," she said sarcastically. Wheeljack was signaling something to Springer but the mech was too preoccupied with the infuriated femme.

"I don't know what is your problem, femme, but my orders are clear," he replied, still keeping a cool demeanor.

"The problem here is that you let our Prime head off to face a potentially dangerous enemy. But honestly, I do hope he gets fragged by those overgrown reptilicons." Arcee felt a bit of satisfaction at her last words, seeing that he wasn't talking back at her. But smiling.

Springer finally took notice of Wheeljack waving at him but couldn't get what he meant, but when he looked back at Arcee, he had to smile. Her look of confusion prompted him to smile, pointing his foredigit at his denta.

Arcee couldn't understand why he was smiling at her like that. She felt just like when she first saw him on Iacon. Her spark was pulsating erratically, she couldn't comprehend what was the matter with her. She unknowingly ran her glossa over her dentas, only then realizing the flavor sticking on her glossa. Her servo immediately flew over her mouth.

Scrap! she thought. She took too long in finishing her energon bar, it had crystalized and stuck to her dentas! And Springer must have noticed! She looked at the mech, that rugged and amused look on his face confirming her suspicion. Scrap! Scrap! This is embarrassing! Scrap!

Bumblebee noticed Arcee's faceplate take on a faded color of her armor before she spun about and hurriedly walked away, her servo covering her mouth. He stepped up to Springer who was chuckling. "What did you do?" he asked.

"Nothing. She just didn't notice the crystalized fuel on her dentas," the mech said, forcing himself not to laugh at Wheeljack's antics in mimicking Arcee. "Still, she's kind of pretty when she's angry."

"Well, let's just hope she's in a better mood come sunrise," replied the scout.

~~~~~

The Predacons never knew of their Alpha's transformation. Upon their arrival at their base, Twin Strike caught her scent. They attacked her, thinking she was an intruder and have expired their Alpha, only to fall to her might. A slim ped stepped on Grimwing's faceplate as he lay prone from Obsidian's attack.

"Grimwing, Grimwing. Did you ever think you can defeat me?" she asked, purring at her words. She smiled as she looked around her den. The others had been strewn around like unwanted toy dolls.

Sky Stalker grabbed on to a broken wall, his broken chestplate still not repaired. He wasn't able to join in defending his team from Obsidian's assault due to damages inflicted by Grimwing. Energon sputtered from the crack on his chestplate, indication of a breach in his ventilation chamber. Obsidian stepped off Grimwing and slid over to where Sky Stalker held himself up.

"Sky Stalker, you have been hiding something from me," she said, transforming her right servo's digits into long, jagged claws. "I heard Grimwing said something about my sparkling being taken away by the enemy. Care to explain what were you thinking?" She grabbed him by the neck, threatening to shut off his intake with her tightening grip. Her narrow optic ridges met and her tone was menacingly colder. "Where is my sparkling?" she asked, tightening her grip on his intake.

Sky Stalker could feel his internal systems overheating from the lack of adequate ventilation. He tried to fight back but the stronger and larger femme had him pinned to the wall. He stared back at her with hate in his optics.

"Do... your... w-worse, worm," he choked, feeling his intake about to collapse from the pressure.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear with what I said," she growled and flung him aside. He crashed upon several caches of energon. His chestplate leaked more energon, the pain wracked his whole body.

"S-She i-is sa-fe f-f-from y-you," he stuttered, enduring the pain. "H-He w-will... He w-will c-come f-for y-you."

"Who, pray tell?" she asked, walking lazily up to him. "The Prime?"

"No, n-not h-him." Sky Stalker could feel his internal systems shutting down but he forced himself to keep online. Energon trickled at the corner of his lip plates, a rupture in his intake forcing energon into his ventilation chamber. Before he offlined, he looked up at the femme beast with hope in his optics as he said, "Oziamuth has returned."

Obsidian's optics dilated in surprise. She felt her spark skip a pulse, and a new emotion rose from deep within her. Fear.

Twin Strike was watching from where he fell, knowing their Alpha was about to expire his closest friend. He painfully picked himself up, taking his warhammer into his servos. He saw her hesitation and took the opportunity. He struck her helm from behind, sending her crashing to the floor. But she was still functional, shaking her helm in pain. It was all the time Twin Strike needed to get him and Sky Stalker out of there.

"Hang on!" he cried, transforming into his beast mode. He dragged Sky Stalker across his back and ran as fast as he could carry the wounded mech. Fire singed his left rear servos, but he kept on running. A squad of Scourge barred his way but he merely leapt over their outstretched claws. As soon as he made it outside, he let his instincts take over. He saw Blackbeak flying overhead, leading him to where he must go.

Obsidian transformed back to her robot mode, holding her helm from where Twin Strike blind-sided her. Already her body is repairing itself from the damage she took. In a matter of seconds, her damages were self-repaired. The Scourge have the rest of the Predacons taken away into holding cells by her orders. All except Grimwing, who lay in stasis upon the floor.

She smiled wickedly. "I will enjoy this," she said, kneeling over the unwary mech. Grimwing's optics suddenly unshuttered, and a howl of pain escaped from his soul, mingling with Obsidian's hysterical laugh.

Twin Strike never knew how long he had been running with Sky Stalker across his back. He knew Blackbeak was leading him somewhere but the strain on his damaged rear leg is making him lose more energon. The Scourge aren't fast enough to catch up to him, but they are many. Several appeared from out of the sands to stop him, only to be shot down by the Minicon flying above.

Without warning, Twin Strike cleared what he thought was a boulder, but a disguised Reptilicon. It grabbed him by the tail and tackled him to the ground. He fought it off with one of his dragon-helms while his other helm fended off the gathering Scourge. Blackbeak swooped in and clawed out the Reptilicon's optics. Twin Strike broke free and picked up Sky Stalker from where he dropped. But they were surrounded. He heard a surprised squawk and saw one of the Scourge trap Blackbeak in a holding net.

This is it then, he thought, snarling and snapping his jaws at those close enough within his range. If I'm going down, I'm going down a Predacon!

Two Reptilicons threw chains around Twin Strike as he transformed into his robot mode. It wrapped around his servos, incapacitating him from reaching his warhammer. One of the Reptilicon Scourge held his warhammer in its claws. With one swing, the hammer struck Twin Strike on the side of his helm. Everything went out of focus as he dropped to his kneejoints. He was struck down again, sending him sprawling to the sands.

"S-Sky," he muttered as he looked helplessly at his friend being beaten by the mindless minions of their Alpha.

One of the Reptilicon Scourge held up Sky Stalker's broken wing and was about to tear it off when something swift sped by. The surprised Scourge stood in suspended animation before its upper torso toppled over, its lower half still standing. The rest of the Scourge turned to see a dark red figure kneeling on the sands, shrouded in the dusk of the coming day.

The mysterious figure slowly stood up. The dark red cape it wore turned out to be dragon wings as they folded. It held a pair of dark blades, each gleaming cruelly in each servo. As the figure came to a fighting stance, it spoke in a femme's voice.

"Leave and I spare your worthless sparks," she spoke calmly. A Reptilicon lunged at her but ended up impaled upon the dark blades she wielded. The Scourge roared out a challenged and attacked. The femme smiled. "Good choice."

Through half-shuttered optics, Twin Strike watched as their mysterious savior mowed down the rampaging Scourge like a scythe through tall grass. He saw her agility in combat, easily dispatching the lumbering hulks like they were just blocks of slag. The twin blades she wielded gleamed red and blue in the rays of the rising sun. The battlecries died down, until the last of them fell before her peds.

"W-who ...?" he softly asked from where he lay but he was shutting down for self-repairs. He saw her approach him, kneeling to turn him upon his struts. A warm servo pressed upon the side of his faceplate and a soothing voice calmed him.

"Rest now, Predacon," she said. "All will be fine from now on." Twin Strike's optic shutters began to fold as he shut down for self-repair. And one name echoed in his subconsciousness, one he thought would never be spoken again.

Talus.