‘Reduce speed!’ Megatron barked loudly. ‘We may as well save our fuel. And besides, it’s such a lovely view. Not a Maximal in sight.’

  His fellow Predacons chuckled amongst one another. They slowed down to almost half speed.

   ‘Ah, just think, gentlemen, in a few short megacycles we will liberate our Predacon brothers and bring justice to our Decepticon ancestors.’ Megatron spoke dreamily, as if he could almost see his vision coming true.

  ‘And just how are we going to do that?’ a red and silver Predacon asked dubiously.

  ‘Ah, patience my doubtful friend. All will be revealed soon.’ Megatron smiled down at the Predacon, who quickly averted his gaze.

 That’s right, he thought, you should know better than to question me. But fortunately for you, ingrate, I am in a forgiving mood.

  His thoughts were broken as another Predacon, Tarantulas, hailed him.

 

He was a relatively small brown and yellow transformer, with small claw-like hands and arms. But he really got his name from his advanced engineering of cyber venom weapons, something almost unheard of to the Maximals. With these weapons, he could poison and corrupt enemy systems; wearing them down slowly and painfully. Indeed, Tarantulas was a brilliant scientist, but some of his ambitions verged on psychotic. Though he never let on about them.

 

‘Lord Megatron,’ he hissed. His voice was naturally raspy, although there seemed to be a little venom in his tone when he addressed his leader. ‘There is something on the radar.’

 ‘Put it on screen,’ Megatron growled, angry his thoughts had been disturbed over an insignificant reason. Tarantulas obeyed, transferring what was on his screen onto the ships front view windows.

  Megatron’s jaw suddenly dropped.

‘WHAT!?’ he bellowed.

 

‘There’s those stinkin’ Preds!’ Mouse shouted, pointing to the navigation screen.

‘Let’s not waste time,’ Optimus replied solemnly. ‘If they’re on our radars, there’s a good chance we’re on theirs.  Divert all remaining power to the engines, I want us at maximum speed when we move in. We have to stop Megatron at all costs!’

  Rhinox keyed in the commands. The Axalon quickly accelerated and was gaining on the Predacon ship.

 

‘NO!’ Megatron grunted. ‘Get this ship moving, I won’t have everything ruined, no, not now!’

  ‘NZZZ, The enginzzz not listening!’ a green Predacon buzzed in an annoying, high pitched voice.

  ‘They need to warm up again, they’ve already cooled down,’ Scorponok cried in panic.

  ‘Blast!’ Megatron pounded his fist on his arm rest. ‘Power up the missile guns. It looks like we’ll just have to stand and fight; at least till the engines are ready.’ He growled lowly, ‘I’m ready for you, Optimus.’

  The ships chrome outside plates folded open and lines of powerful missile launchers edged out.

 

‘What are they doing?’ Speedcat shouted in alarm.

  ‘They’re opening fire!’ Optimus cried. ‘Quick Rhinox, get our main weaponry online!’

    ‘Gonna be close!’ Rhinox winced.

  He keyed frantically into the computer. All the power had been diverted to the engines; no doubt about it, there was going to be a delay in directing the power to the weapons. Question was, would they still be alive by the time the weapons were ready? They were already too close and too fast to turn around.

 

‘FIRE!!’ Megatron bellowed, and the missile guns shot almost in unison. An inescapable barrage of missiles headed straight for the Axalon.

 

‘Weapons online!’ Rhinox cried, and the Axalon unsheathed it’s own blaster guns.

  The oncoming missiles were almost upon them. Optimus ordered a full return fire. The Axalon shot a multitude of missiles that collided with the Predacon’s missiles, which were already dangerously close. 

    The collision  caused a huge explosion, knocking both ships back. The Axalon suffered the most damage, being nearer the blast. The Maximals were flung out of their places as the ship rumbled and churned.

  DANGER. SHIELD DEPLETED.REROUTE POWER SOURCE the internal computer kept repeating.

  ‘I KNOW, NOW SHUT THE SLAG UP!!’ Rhinox yelled at the computer, crawling to his seat after being flung across the floor of the cock-pit. He pushed buttons hard here and there, probably hoping he would hurt the computer.

  ‘See, it wouldn’t be so annoying if it was a chick’s voice!’ Mouse wheezed. He’d been flung up and had landed over the ledge of a far table.

  ‘UGHH!’ Optimus groaned, gripping the same table and rising up, rubbing his head with a hand. ‘Damage report?’

  Speedcat crawled  up from underneath the table. He walked over to his monitor and looked at it. ‘Not good,’ he sighed.

  ‘Don’t tell me, the shield’s down?’ Mouse remarked sarcastically, still hanging off the table. Optimus frowned at him and Speedcat ignored his remark.

  ‘Power’s down to sixty percent and we got side and front damage,’ he relayed quickly.

 The Axalon rumbled again, as the Predacon ship fired yet more missiles, these ones hitting home.

 

Megatron laughed triumphantly. ‘HA HA!! You didn’t think we’d give up quite so easily, did you?’

  ‘Megatron!!’ the silver and red Predacon screeched. ‘Our power level’s dropped to sixty percent!! If they return fire we’re sunk!’

  Megatron stopped laughing. ‘WHAT!?’ he boomed. ‘How, by the inferno, did that happen!?’

  ‘The blast damaged our engine when it knocked us back.’ Scorponok reported. ‘And…uh… I think we went a little overboard  with the missiles, sir.’

  Megatron felt himself grow warm with embarrassment, a vexed look appearing on his face. He turned away quickly. ‘Um…right,’ he muttered. ‘It doesn’t matter anyway, just as long as we get away from the…’

 BOOM!!

  Megatron’s chair fell backwards as the ship quaked and shook.

  The Axalon had recovered from the last attack and the Maximals had managed to reroute it’s remaining power to it’s weapons.

  

‘There. How’d you like that?’ Mouse laughed as the Axalon moved in.

  There seemed to be no way the Predacons could escape now.

  ‘Finally,’ Optimus sighed to himself.

 

Unknown to the Maximals, now was definitely not the time to celebrate. Their chase had led them far from Cybertron. And they were about to go even farther.

 

‘Ok,’ Optimus smiled. ‘Let’s take that ship.’ He pointed to the Predacon ship, and the Axalon accelerated.

 

‘Megatron, what do we do?’ Scorponok wailed down to his fallen leader. Megatron gripped a hand on a control desk and very wobbly got up.

  ‘Tarantulas!’ he called queasily, ‘where are we?’

  ‘Why the slag does that matter?’ the red and silver Predacon called.

  ‘We’re just leaving mapped space and… BY THE INFERNO, WHAT’S THAT!!??’ Tarantulas shrieked, standing up quickly.

  The other Predacons gathered round quickly, leaving Megatron to wobble over to them on his own.

  On the radar was an unknown signature. It was huge, far bigger than their own ship’s green signature. It kept flickering red, meaning they would soon encounter it. And it remained nameless by the computer, unrecognisable even by it’s vast data tracts and signature reading technology. None of the Predacons had seen anything like it before. They started muttering between one another.

  ‘NNNNZZZ, IT’S UNICORN, HE’S RETURNED!!’ the green bot buzzed stupidly.

  ‘Don’t you mean UNICRON, genius.’ the red and silver Predacon sneered, whacking him over the back of the head.

  ‘EEP!’ Scorponok cringed. ‘What if it really is him?! WE’RE ALL DOOMED!’

  This seemed to cause a panicked debate between the four Predacons.

Megatron grumbled and pushed his way through the crowd, his face suddenly brightening  when he saw the screen.

  ‘That, my dear Predacons, is our escape route,’ he said coolly. ‘Now, I want every cell of power in this ship diverted to the engines. We have to reach that transwarp gate!’

 

The Axalon was slowly but surely gaining on the Predacons. 

 ‘Listen Maximals,’ Optimus spoke in a commanding tone. ‘When we board that ship get ready to fight, Megatron’s not going to come peacefully and neither are the rest of them.’

  ‘Do they exactly have to make the first move?’ Mouse asked sardonically, loading his blaster.

  But before Optimus could answer, Speedcat interrupted, ‘Hey, they’re speeding up!’

    ‘Guess they heard you,’ Rhinox chuckled to himself.

    ‘Well, they’re tenacious, I’ll give them that.’ Optimus said, folding his arms. ‘Just keep track of them, but don’t speed up. Who knows what they’re planning, and we can’t afford another attack. They shouldn’t get very far anyway. It’s probably best to let them see that themselves.’ 

  Not knowing how damaged the Predacon ship really was, Optimus figured it was probably best to try and see what they had planned before rushing in. He had a hunch it was something much more sinister than simply a last ditch attempt.

 

‘Ah, playing it cautious. Just as I thought you would, Primal. Yes.’ Megatron chuckled to himself. They were fast approaching the transwarp gate. The Predacon ship made a last desperate sprint across space.

 

‘They’re sure in a rush to get away from us, even if it means darting off nowhere,’ Rhinox pondered.

  ‘Yeah,’ Mouse said with the same amount of wonder. ‘Uh, so… why’s that, fearless leader?’ He turned to Optimus.

  ‘Hey guys,’ Speedcat called from his monitor anxiously. ‘You might wanna see this.’

  Speedcat pulled his monitor onto the big screen. On it was the Predacon ship’s green signature, and something else.  It was a vivid red dot, meaning it was dangerous and unknown. Whatever it was, they were fast approaching it.

  ‘It can’t be!’ Optimus cried.

  ‘What?’ Mouse shouted.

  ‘It’s a transwarp gate.’ Rhinox’s dull voice came from behind them. ‘Man, the radars on this ship ARE bad!’ He shook his head solemnly.

  ‘A WHAT?’ both Mouse and Speedcat echoed together.

  Optimus sighed. ‘A transwarp gate. It’s an opening in space that appears only in far out regions of the galaxy. It could take you anywhere in the universe…’ he paused, ‘even back through time.’

  Mouse and Speedcat exchanged horrified looks.

  ‘We have to stop ‘em!’ Speedcat exclaimed.

  ‘Kid’s right,’ Mouse agreed loudly. ‘Damage or no damage, we gotta stop those Preds before they reach that trans-whats-it and get away!’

  Optimus turned away and folded his arms, thinking to himself.

  ‘You’re all sure you want to go through with this?’ he asked with a large sigh, still facing away from them. He turned his head to see the response.

  The three Maximals all nodded with determined looks on their faces. Optimus turned around, a small smile forming on his face.

  ‘Alright,’ he cried. ‘Let’s do it! Rhinox, get this ship moving. Mouse, keep them in our sights. Speedcat , ready the weapons. We’re taking that ship down!’

 

 The Axalon’s engines roared with power as it speeded up, making a bee-line for the Predacon ship.

  ‘Megatron!!’ Tarantulas cried. ‘The Maximals, they’re gaining on us!’

   Megatron let out a low grunt. ‘BLAST! Their radars must have detected the transwarp gate. All of you, do whatever you can to get this ship moving!!’   

 

‘They’re not slowing,’ Mouse sang.

  ‘Ok, we’ve given them their warning,’ Optimus said coolly. ‘Speedcat, fire when ready!’

  ‘My pleasure,’ Speedcat smirked, and keyed in the commands.

  The missiles hit the Predacon ship with terrifying accuracy, causing parts of it’s chrome plating to dent and slide off.  Better hits created large holes on the sides and roof of the ship.

 

Megatron roared with anger as the blasts echoed inside the ship, causing it to jolt every few seconds. Various pieces of equipment, and Predacons, kept flying from their places all over the ship.

  ‘ULP!… Megatron…’ the silver and red Predacon screeched as he was repeatedly tossed into the air. ‘I- ULP-THINK-ULP-I’M GONNA- EEP-HURL!!’

  Megatron rolled his optics upwards and sighed heavily, burying his head in his hands. He grasped the screaming Predacon the next time he flew past and pulled him close to his chest, his feet hanging above the ship’s floor.

‘Will you kindly, GET A GRIP!!’ he bellowed in the bot’s red and silver face.

  A particularly large blast hit the front of the ship, causing Megatron to fall over, dropping the other Predacon.

  WARNING, WARNING, the ship’s female internal voice announced. POWER DOWN TO THIRTY PERCENT. LEFT ENGINE FUNCTION CEASED.

  ‘Megatron!’ Tarantulas called from behind the main monitor.

  ‘What now!?’ Megatron moaned to himself, he voice muffled by the floor.

  ‘It’s the transwarp gate. It’s right in front of us!!’

 

‘Think they’ve had enough?’ Speedcat laughed.

 ‘A couple’a more rounds shouldn’t hurt,’ Optimus smirked.

  ‘WAHH! Guys…’ Mouse wailed horridly. ‘We got a BIG problem!’

  All the Maximals stared at the radar monitor. The green Predacon dot was nearly touching the red transwarp dot. The blasts seemed to have shunted the Predacon ship even nearer to the transwarp gate.

  ‘Quick,’ Optimus shouted. ‘Hit that ship as hard as you can. It’s our only shot now!’

  ‘I’m talking about the other BIG problem!’ Mouse screamed. ‘How are WE gonna get away from that thing?’ He pointed a finger to the bright red dot. Sure enough, the blue Axalon signature wasn’t far behind the green  Predacon signature.

  ‘We’ll have to worry about it later…’ Optimus began.

  ‘Later’s coming now!’ Rhynox cut in.

  ‘JUST FIRE!’ Optimus erupted.

 

The transwarp gate was now fully visible to both the Maximals and Predacons. Within a few nano clicks both ships would be engulfed in the vortex.

  The Axalon was now very slow to respond. Battle worn and damaged, it had lost a lot of power. But it bravely moved on, raising it’s guns woodenly one last time for the final assault.

  The last wave hit the Predacon ship hard. The engines exploded in a horrific and terrifying blast, sending debris flying everywhere.

 

But it wasn’t enough.

 

The Predacon ship tipped into a nose dive and disappeared into the transwarp gate.

  Even worse, the attack backfired on the Maximals. The Axalon finally gave up, drained of all it’s power. It droned painfully, then went quiet.

  Now totally helpless to resist the transwarp gate’s pull, the Maximals soon found themselves fallowing the same fate as the Predacons.

  ‘Grab on to something, QUICK!’ Optimus yelled as they were drawn headfirst into the swirling, gaping hole.

 

The Axalon shook violently in the giant wormhole. It banged against the eerie white walls, the noise echoing all around the Maximals. Bits of damaged plating were ripped off by the sheer speed at which they were moving. Time seemed to have no meaning or existence, it just seemed like it would never end, like they would be trapped in there forever.  

  They’d all taken to bracing on the floor. Speedcat closed his optics. He’d never been so scared in his entire life. Optimus crawled over to him.

‘Just stay calm, and don’t panic,’ he said gently, comforting the frightened bot. ‘We’ll get through this, I know we will.’

  Speedcat gripped Optimus tightly, trembling all over. He was just so scared. He needed something, someone to hold on to.

  Optimus patted his back gently. He was only a child. This was only his first mission. Why did this have to happen now?

***

 

After what seemed like eons, the Axaon finally made it out of the transwarp gate. Barely holding together, it zoomed downwards, accelerated by the push received from just exiting  the transwarp gate.  The Predacon ship had also been lucky, escaping in relatively one piece, give a missing rear wing and engines. 

  A fraction of a cycle was between them in distance, they were both clearly visible to one another. It was rather strange, two enemy ships swiftly drifting one behind the other. They looked almost peaceful.

 

However, peaceful or not, for both ships the danger had only just begun.

 

They were quickly nearing a small blue and green planet. The atmosphere was beginning to drag both ships down. With nothing left to escape with; no power, no engines, both ships gave in to gravity.

  A truly frightening experience, felt by every Maximal and Predacon. Even Megatron and Optimus both feared the worst.

  The ships separated, the Axalon continuing to plunge downwards while the Predacon ship swooped sideways.

 

‘Everybody, get to the back of the ship and get under a brace. MOVE!!’ Optimus cried, opening the cockpit door for the others to get out. When everyone had cleared out, he surveyed the room and finally exited the cockpit.

  The Axalon was getting faster now. It wouldn’t be long before they crashed. The Maximals braced for impact. Would they survive this time? And what of the Predacon ship?