The Autobots waited until Omega Scion was finished recalibrating the Orb, until he was able to do so, and as a result, they patiently looked into the orb once more...

Amdist a heavy storm, Optimus Primal was seen scouting for Energon or Predacon activity.

"Optimus to Command Center. Scrub the mission! Looks like one extremely ill wind is blowing our way."

No reply, he tried to hail the Axalon again for any response...

"Command center! Do you read...!?"

Meanwhile, back at the Axalon, Rhinox was just finishing his task, preparing a score of posts that reform into capsules when inactive.

"That does it. Survey posts are ready for duty." then Rhinox turns to Rattrap "Any word from Optimus?"

"Not a flicker. This storm's trashin' the comlinks worsen' usual and that's bad enough." Rattrap says working on the computer's comms which are still hindered by the storm.

"It seems like their communications aren't as well developed as ours." Ratchet says.

"Care to explain, Ratch?"

"Well, we didn't have much of a problem when we hailed and Optimus in a storm while Unicron was awakening. While they have had communication problems which is hampered by a natural storm coming."

Bulkhead nodded.

"This mission is too critical to be interrupted by a minor variation of weather." Dinobot (Bulkhead: That storm ain't a minor variation, Dino-boy) says while tweaking on a device. He growls and asks angrily "Who took the synchro-laser?!"

Cheetor steps in and says "Allow me." but he worked so quickly that it caused the device to fall and roll to the elevator shaft. Dinobot notices and throttles Cheetor by his neck.

"You hyper little..." Dinobot curses.

"The bomb! Watch out!" Rattrap shrieks in fear.

"Some sort of trouble?" Optimus comes up, having caught the bomb on his hand, prompting Dinobot to drop Cheetor.

"What could they use a bomb for?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Hey, Big Bot, We're just lockin' down the the big ba-bang, here."

Cheetor eventually uses the synchro-laser to adjust the bomb.

"One last adjustment and... there! We're set to blast that Predacon base back into orbit."

"Seriously? That's the mission? Blow up the Predacons? Isn't that a coward's trick?"

"No one fights fairly in war, Magnus." Optimus reminded him.

"I guess."

"As space debris!" Cheetor proclaims. But the bomb eventually begins to act up, sending Rattrap in a panic and Optimus in a shock, but it shuts down before it can detonate automatically.

"Put it to bed. We're stalled." Optimus ordered.

"What?" Dinobot asks

"You can't..." Rattrap tries to speak next.

"What are you talking about?" Rhinox asks confused.

"It's just a crossed quasar circuit! I can fix it!" the bomb Cheetor carried acted up slightly.

"That storm'll hit us within the hour." Optimus notified.

"An hour?" Cheetor scoffs and says next "Not a problem, fellow beasts, I can outrun anything the skies can dish."

"Why does that sound familiar?" the Autobots say... but Smokescreen was looking up as if he was suddenly enemy number one.

"Sorry, Cheetor. It's too risky." Optimus refused. The placement of those survey posts must be thoroughly calculated to avoid contact with any underground energon deposits."

"I'm not just some dippy cub, y'know." Cheetor continuously insisted "I can do this. Try havin' some faith in me for once!"

"As much as you prefer to think so, Cheetor, this isn't about you." Optimus calmly says.

"And does it matter if we blow some energon?" Dinobot growls, frustrated. "Maybe it will take a few Predacons with it. That is what we want, is it not?"

"That's what the humans call overkill." Ratchet stated.

"This mission, Dinobot, is to gain tactical advantage by taking out their base. Defeating them does not mean we have to annihilate them. You seem to have trouble understanding that." Optimus reminded.

"What I understand is this: if situations were reversed, Megatron would spare the base and annihilate us!" Dinobot retorted.

"That's... quite a grim view Dinobot has." Bulkhead says exasperated.

"This eagerness of yours to scrap Megatron is clouding your judgment." Primal commented

"We are at war, Optimus. War! I think it is your judgment that is clouded!" Dinobot countered handing the bomb to Primal and walks away. The gorilla just shook his head, unsure on how long would he tolerate the latter's lust for battle-glory. (Prime: I know what he means, given I have been accustomed to others like him before)

"Optimus, they're harmless little scanning relays. All they're supposed to do is detect Pred energy signatures." Rattrap commented holding up a module.

"Right, Rhinox?" the gorilla turns to his 2nd-in-command and science officer.

"I'm with Optimus on this one. Energon's an untested variable. We gotta be careful."

Dinobot in Beast Mode entered Cheetor's quarters.

"Come in."

Dinobot steps in, to speak to a dejected Cheetor.

"Come to chew my tail for fritzin' that bomb?" he asks.

"No. I am confident you could fix it." Dinobot replies.

Cheetor perks his ears up in interest, surprised at Dinobot's advice.

"Just as I am confident you could beat the storm and plant those survey posts."

But he loses interest and replies.

"Then you're the only one who thinks so." he says deflatingly.

Dinobot growls and replies "Do not mind Optimus. To him, you are a mere child incapable of handling such an important task. Like you said, he has no faith." hoping to raise up the spirits of the dejected Cheetor.

Arcee facepalmed. "That sounds oddly familiar to the times former Cons used to whip up our younglings to shape."

"Tailgate, right?"

"Yeah." she turned to Bumblebee but he interrupted "Ironhide found Rockbreaker trying to push Tailgate to do a job that was too dangerous during a rust storm."

Arcee sighed.

"Yeah, well, I could show him a thing or two." Cheetor retorted.

"Then... why not do so?" Dinobot asked.

"What?" (Autobots: What?!)

"You have mapped every energon deposit for five hundred meters. And your land speed is unequaled In fact, you are the only one who could pull off this mission."

"Is he crazy? That storm would strike in less than a megacycle! Cheetor won't make it in time!" Smokescreen blurted.

"Perhaps he's doing this out of frustration of not being able to act on a canceled mission." Optimus surmised.

"That is suicidal. There's no guarantee that Cheetor will return before the storm arrives." Ultra Magnus added.

Knockout chuckles and replies "Give him a chance, Magnus. Let's see if the kid can actually pull it off."

"Knockout, you wouldn-"

"I know what you mean, but even it can't be helped. If he wants to get himself scrapped, let him. He's got the chance to prove it, even when Primal doesn't want to see it coming."

"I hope you are right."

Cheetor smiles, then eventually goes out of the Axalon, racing across the indicated map locations where the survey posts can be used.

"MAXIMIZE!" Cheetor places a survey post on the pinpointed location.

"Beast mode!" he tries to move out, but he gets shocked by a bolt of thunder. He quickly gets up and taunts "Was that supposed to scare me?" Another thunder strikes, but Cheetor didn't seem detered by it and moves on to plant another survey post... in a land where Energon is abundant. He sees a large crevasse ahead and tries to leap forward, but he fell nearly across of the leap and hangs on to the edge. He nearly slipped and fell, but managed to climb up and raced forward.

"That was a close one." Bumblebee said relieved.

"You do realize we needed ramps to jump that far, right Bee?"

"Sure we do Smoke. Sure we do."

Cheetor makes it to the pointed location and attempts to install another survey post, but a thunderstrike knocks him away, causing the survey post to be impaled on a crack that revealed Energon underneath

"Uh-oh."

Cheetor looks at the survey post being laced with Energon. He looks around and sees the crack extend; the survey post had been planted in an Energon deposit.

"Energon! And it's going to blow!"

Cheetor ducked and braced for an implosion. He tried to inspect the survey post, but when the crack it made began to expand, he began to grab on to it, but it repelled him by delivering oversaturation onto him upon his physical contact with it.

Back at the Darksyde...

"Say... perhaps, by chance... an intruder?" says Terrorsaur after he elevated closer to the computer. But the computer fails to respond due to heavy interference.

"Awww, slag! Just storm interference. Shoulda known no Maximal'd be stupid enough to try anything on a day like this." he says disappointed.

"Okay, so you wanna play rough, eh?" (Bulkhead: Don't be stupid, kid. Get outta there.)

Cheetor prepares to pull out the survey post, but the Energon oversaturation it brought him was quite much for him to handle. Surprisingly enough, instead of destroying him, it sent him to the Predacon base in a flash, knocking Terrorsaur away.

"Whoa, what's new, pussycat? Did I get fried? Is this...?" Cheetor looked to his surroundings but before he can completely regain them...

"Welcome to the Darksyde! Terrorsaur -TERRORIZE!" Terrorsaur transformed to robot form

"The Darksyde? That's the name of the Predacon ship?" Optimus asked.

"Sounds edgy." Wheeljack commented.

"Cheetor - MAXIMIIII-"

but he stopped midway as he realized he's already in robot form.

"-did that already."

The Autobot higher-ups facepalmed while it's younglings chuckled.

Terrorsaur fires at Cheetor, but the Maximal dodges and moves into one of the Darksyde's holo-platforms, that he later held on to when the Predacon overturned it with a shot. He later climbed up when Terrorsaur taunted...

"I heard you were fast, kitty. You don't seem so swift to me." as the vile Predacon extends his gun.

"Yeah? Just wait'll I get in SHAPE! BEAST MODE!" Cheetor transforms to his beast mode and pounces at Terrorsaur, sending the Predacon to one of the computer screens that zaps Terrorsaur out of view.

"Whoaa..." Cheetor says awestruck. (Wheeljack: Whoa indeed kid.)

"Cool." He turns back to Robot form and moves on with a holo-platform. But Waspinator and Scorponok, having heard of the gunfire, move in to investigate the disturbance.

"Scorponok - TERRORIZE!"

"Waspinator - TERRORIZE!"

When they spotted Cheetor, Waspinator drops Scorponok to a nearby hovering platform and both chased the Maximal, firing at him in the process. Until Scorponok fires a beam that opens a hole in the Darksyde's venting.

"Yeah!" Cheetor jumps in and taunts the Predacons "Thanks for showin' me the way out, ya lamers." and flees, leaving Scorponok and Waspinator unable to continue the chase.

"He's gone into the vents. You better report this to Megatron."

"Me? You're second in command!" Waspinator retorted.

"So make it an order!" Scorponok commanded, earning amusement from Knockout.

The storm eventually strikes, throwing Terrorsaur at the Axalon.

"Where'd he go?! Where'd I go?" Terrorsaur says looking at his surroundings.

"Welcome to Enemy Arms, my former comrade. I hope you'll enjoy your stay." Dinobot greeted.

Terrorsaur looked at the traitor, who continued...

"Dinobot - MAXIMIZE!" he transformed to his robot mode.

"I don't know how you brought me here, traitor, but prepare to stain the deck!" Terrorsaur proclaimed, preparing to fire at the ex-Predacon warrior.

"Wait!" Dinobot proclaimed.

"What in all of Primus is he doing?" Arcee asked.

"It's likely deception. We need to look further."

"Could it be that an accident of technology and nature has actually created a... transporter?" (Ratchet: Or perhaps a teleporter of some kind?)

"Terrorsaur, perhaps a truce is in order." Dinobot proposed.

"A transporter? Oh, yeah! So that's how that kid cat ended up in our base." Terrorsaur concluded. Dinobot sardonically added "And you here. Interesting development."

"Yeah! Yeah, say! We can turn our truce into an alliance, Dinobot!"

"An alliance? To what end?" Dinobot asks with fake interest, well hidden as Terrorsaur speaks up.

"Think of the cosmic magnificence! Together, we'll overthrow these low-grade metal knock-offs you've joined, and then rule the Predacons with two iron fists!"

"He can't be serious, can't he?" Ultra Magnus asks.

"Hold still Magnus. Considering Dinobot's knowledge with the Predacons, he would know better than to trust Terrorsaur." Ratchet countered.

"Yeah, I mean, he's been with the Preds, so he's gotta know a lot about the crew."

"Nothing can stop us!" Terrorsaur cheered. After mashing their fists together... Dinobot grinned.

Back at the Darksyde, Cheetor was being fired at by Scorponok and Waspinator still. Running while escaping fire from both Predacons.

"I have him! I have him!" Scorponok proclaimed, readying his missiles. He fired one that penetrated the vent without exploding on contact and when it spotted Cheetor, it rushed towards him. Cheetor stopped in shock of a missile coming towards him, but he was running out of time, as Waspinator's shots began closing in on him still.

"It seems Scorponok must have developed Energon seeking missiles." Ratchet surmised.

"Well color me interested! That may-"

"No Knockout. We're not developing weapons."

"Party pooper, as the humans say." the ex-Decepticon doctor says.

"Shredded or sizzled, what a choice!" Cheetor turned back, narrowly dodging a shot from Waspinator, but when one of his shots came into contact with the missile, it created a chain reaction that caused fire to close in on Cheetor, Panicked, he shouted...

"Cheetor - MAXIMIZE!" and transformed into robot mode to outrun the chain reaction closing in on him.

"Bullet traaain --!" He rushed through the venting but the explosion knocked him clear to a wall.

"Comin' through." (Arcee: You are so not doing that Smokescreen.)

Smokescreen sighed but knew how dangerous it was. He saw Cheetor nearly escaping deactivation, he wouldn't want to repeat it.

Back at the Axalon...

"And by simply coming in contact with the communication console, this initiated the transport?" Dinobot says, escorting Terrorsaur to an escape pod bay.

"That's all I did. Nothing to it."

"Excellent. Then I should have no difficulty duplicating the procedure.... without you."

"Wha...?"

Dinobot turns on him by ramming him to an open pod, a tail whip to confuse him then shove him into the pod with a repeating kick.

"Hey! Whaddya doing? We're partners!" Terrorsaur proclaims, horrified by Dinobot's betrayal.

"In case you had not realized, needle nose, I am not a team player." Dinobot replies, then pulls down a lever, launching Terrorsaur out of the Axalon.

The Autobots chuckled while Knockout laughed.

"It seems you are right, Ratchet." Optimus commented.

"Yeah, just like Starscream, eh Knockout?"

The aforementioned doctor laughed "Oh don't remind me, Bumblebee. I know that."

"Never trust a Con." Wheeljack commented.

Primal arrives, announcing...

"Dinobot! The survey posts are missing, as is Cheetor. Do you know anything about it?"

"So that's what he was doing out there." Dinobot deduced, confusing Primal...

"What are you talking about?!" Optimus asks.

"I... overheard a Predacon communication. A lightning strike on the sensor posts has had the... unexpected result of transporting Cheetor into the Predacon base. Regrettable. Yes." Dinobot lied, earning frowns from some of the Autobots.

"He has surely been destroyed by... Megatron."

"No he isn't! He's still alive!" Smokescreen protested.

"Calm down Smokescreen, he doesn't know that yet." Optimus stated.

"NO!" Optimus roars out of shock.

"But take heart in the fact that, through the cat's ultimate sacrifice, we have been furnished with a way to defeat them."

"How?" Optimus asked.

"Somehow, the relay posts, the storm, and the energon, have all conspired to create a transporter, which connects our com-room to theirs." Dinobot suggested. "We can beam the explosive right into the heart of Megatron's lair."

Back at the Darksyde, Cheetor looked into a computer and gets on to accessing it.

"Well, as long as I'm here, might as well roll with it. Maybe finger some facts... like coppin' their maps of surrounding energon deposits." "Hold it-hold it-hold it! Oh man..."

"What's he doing? Getting top-secret Predacon intel?" Arcee asked.

"Show Maximal perimeter grid-map!"

The computer displays the permeter a thousand meters opposite the Darksyde.

"Add surrounding energon deposits!"

The computer displays an Energon deposit connected between the Axalon and the Darksyde. Cheetor grunts and realizes..

"The same energon vein runs under both bases! An explosion at either base would destroy us all!"

"So that's why he's at the base without being blown to pieces. It didn't destroy him, it just relocated him to the Darksyde." Arcee surmised.

"Who knew both bases were sitting on a big Energon vein after all." Bulkhead commented.

"And with one explosion destroying both bases, that chain reaction would have killed both Maximals and Predacons." Optimus added.

"Well, guessing making that bomb was a mistake." Bumblebee said.

"Make copy!"

The computer leaves a datatrax disc of the copy Cheetor asked.

"I gotta warn Optimus!" Cheetor proclaims

"There he is!" Scorponok alerted, having caught Cheetor with Waspinator, weapons aimed at the young Maximal. He fired a missile at Cheetor, sending the latter running as fast as he can in a circle to avoid being blown up, until he leaped over the Predacons cornering him.

"Get out of the way, you..."

Too late, as the missile knocks out Scorponok and Waspinator, amusing the young Autobots.

Meanwhile at the Axalon...

"Wait!"

Dinobot was just finished with the bomb until Optimus interrupts him...

"You're positive the detonation countdown will give the Predacons time to flee the base?"

"They shall have thirty seconds. Any more and they might be able to disarm it."

Optimus contemplates before he reluctantly gives the order...

"Proceed."

Back at the Darksyde...

"Okay! Let's take this kitty home!" Cheetor says dropping the datatrax disc back at the communication log, but it was later exchanged for the bomb.

"Holy Cat's Meow, it's the bomb!"

At the Axalon, Dinobot and Primal inspect the 'mysterious' disc that suddenly appeared in front of them.

"What is it?" Dinobot asked.

"A data disk. And it has Cheetor's scent!" Optimus said after sniffing the disc. He ordered... "Play this! Now!"

At the Darksyde...

"Yowwwl! They sent the bomb! I gotta get it outta here before it blows both bases!"

But before Cheetor can do that he hears a click and Terrorsaur eventually jumps behind Cheetor...

"Freeze, freckles!" he screeches, holding Cheetor with a gun to his head. He wickedly chortles to Megatron...

"It's as I said, Megatron. One bomb, C.O.D."

"Do not attempt to escape, young one." Megatron says intimidatingly even as Cheetor tried to wiggle out of Terrorsaur's hold on him to no avail. "Terrorsaur, disarm it."

Terrorsaur whips Cheetor out of the way and tries to disarm the bomb, but...

"There's no time!" Terrorsaur screeches.

"He's right! It's anchored down and gonna blow in twenty seconds!"

The time was running short, yet Megatron said nothing, in contemplation...

"I can release the anchors! Lemme at it! Come on! You'd rather be vaped!?"

After contemplating on short notice, Megatron reluctantly agreed with a nod and let Cheetor take the bomb.

[Ten. Nine. Eight...]

"Do it!" Megatron impatiently shouted.

"C'mon, remember me? Ole fumble fingers?" Cheetor worked as fast as he can to release the anchors

[Five. Four.]

"Go!" He managed to release the anchors, prompting Terrorsaur to turn to Beast Mode and fly to get the bomb as far away as he can.

[Three. Two. One.] the bomb explodes, far away and above from the Darksyde.

The Autobots, after panicking from that countdown, sighed in relief.

Megatron now turns to Cheetor to finish him off. "And now for you!"

"Sorry...this cat's gonna scat!" Cheetor transforms to Beast Mode to jump back to the console, moments before Megatron's fusion beam destroyed it with a couple blasts.

Terrorsaur eventually falls down on the destroyed console, alive, but charred. Unsurprisingly, this left Megatron confused.

"Too bad you broke your advantage over the Maximals, Mega-jerk." Bumblebee taunted, earning laughs from Smokescreen.

"Aww, slag." Terrorsaur cursed.

The transportation cascade breaks through all of the survey posts in the process but it materializes Cheetor back to the Axalon scotfree, safe and sound.

"Hiya, cats!" Cheetor proclaimed, now back at the interior. "Miss me?"

A moment after the weather has returned to normal...

"Hey, Cheetor. We got your disk. You saved us from ourselves, son."

"Thanks."

"Yeah! Ya may have stepped in it, kid, but ya came out smellin' like a rose." Rattrap added.

"All parta bein' perfect." then turns to Optimus Primal " Sorry for disobeyin' your order, Big Bot."

"You don't need to earn my respect, Cheetor, you've always had it. And you did end up saving the day."

Just when Cheetor was about to feel better, Optimus' tone eventually turns to threatening "But be warned! If you EVER pull a stunt like that again I'll have your tail on a sling!"

"Quite the subtle way to threaten your underling, Primal." Knockout sardonically commented.

"OK, OK! I'll never do that again! Until the next time!" But before Optimus can ask, Cheetor bolted out, leaving Optimus with a laughing Rhinox and Rattrap.

"Stubborn little slagheap. One day, that impulsiveness would get him killed." Ratchet commented.

The Orb eventually malfunctions.

"Damned artifact!" Omega curses.

"What's going on, Omega?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"The Orb has been on it for too long. I'm afraid it will be a matter of time till the next is coming. Just wait."

"Great." Arcee mutters.