"I gotta feeling we'd see some of these aliens Prime talked about." said Ultra Magnus.

"Yeah, I bet there's more to them than a probe that sucked Primal in and a flying island with a laser tower!" stated Smokescreen.

"Just what the heck is this probe these aliens made anyway?" asked Swindle.

"You'll find out soon enough, Swindle." assured Onslaught.

"Maybe still... Ratchet, you've spoken about the Golden Disks the future Megatron had held... we will find out what they are, yet." Prime said.

"We've only seen them in the first viewing, but I can't help but feel that they may have a role to play in the Beast Wars ahead." Ratchet replied.

"Maybe so, Ratch. Maybe so." assured Bulkhead.

They all soon felt silent afterwards as the viewing impending was counted down to three.

In the jungles ahead, Tigatron notices from afar that a mountain range has started to glow strangely, much to his curiosity.

"A glowing mountain? Really?" asked Jetfire.

"Must be another work of those aliens, Jet." answered Air Raid.

Meanwhile, in the Darksyde, Megatron had fallen asleep out of likewise boredom until a speaker unfurls in his presence and annouces.

[Attention Megatron. This is a code ATT alert... for your audio circuits only.]

Awakened briefly from his slumber, Megatron irately ordered "Report."

[An energy anomaly has been detected at coordinates 7-9-6.]

"Maximals?"

[Negative. The anomaly is of alien origin.]

"Is it. Yess. This could be it." Megatron gleefully replied.

In the mountain, the Predacons reached the alien artifact first by blowing a hole in the interior. Down below, it revealed a spinning pedestal containing a Golden Disk floating over in the middle of a massive chasm. Through Inferno.

Prime looked upon with intrigue of the Golden Disk. "No... it cannot be... the long lost Golden Disk!"

"What is it, Optimus?"

"Later, Ratchet." Prime replied.

All others tried to object, but Ratchet's stern gaze made sure they stop their questioning.

"By the Great Smelter! The Royalty was correct. The Royalty will want this." Inferno mumbled. He transformed and flew over to the pedestal and tried to pull it off, but it would not budge. Worse still, the Energon oversaturation began to overtake Inferno very quickly than anticipated.

[Warning. Energon level in danger zone.]

"Going by this, that mountain is using raw Energon to keep away anyone who would dare try to take that Golden Disk.

"I...will... not... FAIL!" Inferno stubbornly refused, but it paid off well, and thus far, he was able to rip the Golden Disk off the pedestal and flew up rocketing, chittering and chattering like he usually does when he flies.

Having returning the Golden Disk to Megatron, the latter replied, very impressed with the results.

"Well done Inferno. It is what I have long expected, yes." Seeing that Inferno took damages to take the Golden Disk, he ordered "Go, repair yourself. I have much to think on."

"Yes, my Queen." Inferno replied like a good soldier would and departed from Megatron's presence.

"I wish he wouldn't call me that." Megatron cringed.

"Why not? A Queen is superior to a-." Knockout quipped. But he was cut off by Smokescreen, who was nervously smirking at a instigated Arcee.

Meanwhile, Primal flew ahead right into Predacon turf, and alone, presumably to find the alien anomaly Tigatron had spoken of, but he was at a dead end.

"Datatrax Zeta-Four-Nine. I am unable to detect any sign of the alien energy anomaly which Tigatron reported. Jets, maximium burn!" he boosted ahead, but he flew deeper, right into Megatron's grid, who pressed a red button once the gorilla Maximal flew right into a stationary box with a hole and a beeping red alarm.

"Is that a missile site?!" asked Bumblebee.

"Is he trying to shoot Primal down?!" asked Smokescreen.

"I told you! I told you it was a bad idea to go alone-"

"Calm down Autobots. Megatron wouldn't want Primal dead unless there was something into that Golden Disk that he found." Ultra Magnus replied.

Instead of a missile that fired, it was a strange orb. It flew ahead of Primal, overtook him, but it was not meant to explode if he passed through it. It unfurled to reveal a hologram of Megatron himself.

"Optimus Primal!" Megatron harkened to his archnemesis.

"Well. Megatron. I'd say it was good to see you but my truth circuits would overload." Primal said after stopping before the hologram with sarcasm laden in his tone.

"Wished our Optimus would be like that instead of being serious and stern. All. The. Time. Even if it's for a short time." spouted Bumblebee.

Prime still budged for none. He was way too stoic for having a sense of humor.

"This is no time for pleasantries, Maximal, no. I have a matter of some urgency to discuss." Megatron replied diplomatically.

"So discuss." 

"Not like this. In person, I think. Yes. Neutral territory. Both of us, alone." Megatron pushed on.

Confused, Primal asked "What makes you think I'd agree to that?"

"Because what I wish to discuss...is a truce." Megatron answered earnestly. Primal then boosted off to another direction. There, the mountain range far above the world. He met Megatron there, alone and landed to his direction. He transformed to Beast Mode soon after.

There, diplomacy began. Yet Primal could tell that Megatron didn't seem to be as cruel and cunning as he is usually.

"All right, Megatron. You called the meeting. What's this slag about a truce?" Primal asked.

"Absolutely true, I assure you. Yes." Megatron stated, in a tone that surprised Primal.

"When Predacons talk truce, it just means they need time to reload their weapons." the gorilla Maximal pointed out.

The Autobots felt the same. Their truce negociations with the Decepticons never really went well because it meant that the latter would take up time to amass their numbers and weapons and prepared for another theater of war. Such a thing, like their first truce in Lithus, was such an example.

"Something tells me he's doing this to keep the Maxies off his back while he works on the Golden Disk..." said Silverbolt.

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But not now. Things have... arisen. Things which require my undivided attention."

This brought intrigue to Primal himself, but he couldn't bother to probe deeply to why Megatron would bring this up before the latter clarified.

"To be blunt, Optimus Primal, I have no time to waste on Maximals. Thus, I wish a truce." Megatron then stated steely "And you WILL agree."

"Do you take me for a fool?!" Primal asked furiously.

"No. I take you for a Maximal." Megatron answered.

In the Axalon, the Maximals could not believe what they've heard from their leader...

"A TRUCE?!"

"Oh, for bootin' up cold!" Rattrap asked in disbelief.

"I cannot believe you agreed to this!" Dinobot pointed out furiously.

"Someone's salty about the truce." Warpath pointed out.

"What could I do? He was right. I'm a Maximal. I have to give peace a chance, no matter how unlikely it seems." Primal replied.

"Do you think this has something to do with that alien energy anomaly?" Rhinox asked.

"It's got to. Megatron's found out something. Something that's got him so worried, he doesn't even want to THINK about us." Primal surmised.

"I'm insulted!" Rattrap blurted out.

"In that case, we'd better find out what it is." Cheetor suggested.

"Oh yesss, go ahead and try to find out what dirty secret my 'descendant' has found out. Yess...." Megatron commented sarcastically.

"Chances are that this will resume the Beast Wars, but with discretion, they may pull off the discovery without technically violating the truce." Perceptor pointed out.

"Ya mean I gotta infiltrate that Pred base again?!" Rattrap squeaked fearfully.

"Oh get brave you coward!" Arcee protested.

"That might be a truce violation." Rhinox pointed out.

"Not if he's unarmed." Cheetor added. 

"Oh, thanks a slaggin' skidplate full, pussycat!" Rattrap derided.

"The vermin is right. Megatron will surely anticipate this move." Dinobot replied, predictingly.

"So let him." Primal coldly ordered. This discomforted the Maximals, but they complied anyway.

Meanwhile, Tarantulas attempted another escape, this time, by using one of the unused transwarp cell storage rarely used by the Predacons themselves.

"What is he doing now?" Skyquake asked.

"Open transwarp module sixteen." Tarantulas said using a speaker that allows him to emulate Megatron's voice. "Voice code - Megatron."

[Voice Code Megatron, acknowledged.]

"75% power..." Tarantulas grabbed a strange cell of unknown origin and grabbed it. "It will have to do."

"Why is spider-bot taking Transwarp Cell?" Waspinator asked arriving, though Tarantulas heeded him no reply. Infuriated by his ignorance, he repeated "Waspinator asks question. Spider-Bot will answer. Will answer NOW!" while threatening Tarantulas with his weapon.

"As you wish." He pulled another gadget from his forehead and tossed it at Waspinator, exploding a fume of gas that blinded the latter's optics temporarily.

"The answer is simple." He knocked Waspinator to his feet upon resurfacing behind him. "I am leaving." he then closed the door behind Waspinator but not before he threw a bomb in the latter's hand.

"Oh no." it exploded, destroying the transwarp cell storage.

"That aside, he means to likely desert the Beast Wars and return to Cybertron to continue his mad experiments that made Shockwave look decent." Dreadwing deduced.

"Coward." spat out Skyquake.

Looking at Tarantulas' activities in the camera, Megatron hammed "That spider has hacked his way into my datatrax. And obviously he has his own plans for dealing with the situation, yess. Normally, I would punish such treachery.But in this case, it may be advantageous to let him play out the hand." 

"But not alone, no." He turned to one of his minions, via comms. "Blackarachnia. here appears to have been a disturbance on the Transwarp level. Would you check it out, please?"

Blackarachnia complied.

"And now, Optimus Primal, I believe the next move is yours." Megatron then sat by and waited.

Up above and further, Rattrap was carried up by the sky by no other than Airazor.

"Awww man! Ain't there a rule that us hero types gotta get more dignified transportation?" Rattrap complained.

"Like what? An armored transport or Astrotrain himself?" asked Vortex.

"If you could shed a few kilos, this would be easier of the both of us." Airazor pointed out. She dived deeper into Predacon territory, right into their defenses. Their turrets unfurl and immediately fire upon the trespassing Maximals.

"We're gonna diiiiie!" yelled Rattrap as Airazor struggled to keep him in her grasp while dodging incoming enemy fire.

"Isn't there a rule that heroes have to face destruction with dignity?" Airazor pointed out.

"What's the use o' dyin' if ya can't enjoy it?" Rattrap whined as Airazor dived down and dropped him to a hole. "Oh man! I feel naked without my gun!" he whined as he went on his way into the Darksyde transforming to Robot Mode. Unarmed.

"Primal had to go through with Cheetor's suggestions, didn't he? Almost like Prime does to Bumblebee's." Ironhide pointed out.

Both Autobots refused to say anything about it. It was true. Despite being Supreme Commander, Prime had to defer to Bumblebee's insightful judgement more often than not.

"That aside, how the heck is Rat-boy here going to get that Pred classified info without a gun in his hand? I mean, he's gotta improvise, right?" Jazz said.

"He'd better, Jazz." added Cliffjumper.

"Airazor, MAXIMIZE!" Airazor transformed and ordered "Open channel to Predacon Base." as she hailed Megatron.

"Megatron! This is Airazor! Is this the Predacon meaning of a truce?!" She said while avoiding being shot down by the Predacon defenses.

"My dear Airazor. My humblest apologies. No doubt you were simply flying a routine patrol, yess." Megatron commented while brushing the teeth of his T-rex prothetic.

Everyone found that weird.

"I shall have the defenses shut down immediately." The defenses that were autonomously firing at Airazor stood down.

[Perimeter defenses deactivated.]

"That's better." Airazor commented wiping off her forehead.

"Yess. Again, my apologies. But you ARE in Predacon airspace." Megatron then 'politely' asked "In the interests of continued peace, I must request that you leave."

"Oh, very well." Airazor transformed and tried to leave.

"We did it!" Rattrap piped up.

"Oh, and Airazor?" Megatron asked. "Yesss?" 

She turned to him before leaving.

"Please take that vermin with you." as the Predacon surveiliance found Rattrap sneaking about in his territory.

"Slag!" Rattrap cursed.

"Ha! Busted!" quipped Breakdown.

"Dinobot couldn't get much wrong than that, could he?" Bulkhead asked.

"That Megatron's always got ears and eyes everywhere in his turf. You'd think that him not noticing Rattrap would mean that they took Pred-Megs for a fool." Sideswipe pointed out.

"Looks like Primal's going back to square one with this." Wheeljack added.

On deck aboard the Axalon, Primal was despondent with the failed attempt to infiltrate the Darksyde. "So you didn't get in?" he asked.

"Not even close." Airazor replied.

"I'm tellin' ya, I'd hate t' sell encyclopedias in THAT neighborhood!"

"Megatron just politely shut down the defenses and tossed us out." Airazor clarified.

"Sort of like when you saw your grandkids going through your precious treasures and then you kicked them out until the night as punishment." clarified Air Raid.

"So you failed." Prime replied.

"Absolutely."

"Completely." they admitted, leaving Primal to make another plan.

And that was when Tigatron found the damaged interior of the Darksyde that the Predacons never bothered to repair and jumped inside to infiltrate the ship.

"At least Primal's got a backup plan. Hope this one's foolproof." stated Wheeljack.

In Tarantula's lair, Blackarachnia observed via camera.

"The transwarp cell is now fully functional." Tarantulas muttered while typing in commands to utilize the cell to it's full potential. "All it needs is some special programming..." But he was interrupted when he heard something. In the entrance came off Waspinator's head and then Blackarachnia herself.

"Well hey there, tall, dark, and bloodthirsty." Blackarachnia greeted with formality.

"Tsk." scoffed Arcee.

"Blackarachnia!" hissed Tarantulas.

"Dropped something back there, didn't you?" she asked.

"I-I-I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!" he denied.

"Lying? Are you joking?" asked Blast Off.

"Excellent." Megatron boasted as Blackarachnia distracted him "And now, while Tarantulas is distracted. Computer! Access the transwarp cell." he ordered.

[Megatron voice-code, ATT override.]

"I have some special programming of my own to add..."

[Acknowledged.]

"That sounded familiar." Predaking said looking at Megatron who does not return the gaze.

Inside, while Tigatron was infiltrating, he transformed, continuing his mission, yet took cover from a patrolling Terrorsaur.

"Black ship." Tigatron grunted. "Bad place for this white cat. Have to make it quick." and went on his way.

All while Cheetor waits and waits for an update.

"Do ya think Tigatron will be able to get the info, Big Bot?" he asked Primal.

"All we can do is hope. We know this planet has mysteries. The energon, the artifacts..." as the command table unfurls the Standing Stones and the island. "they're all signs of alien presence. But now Megatron has discovered something else. Something big. We HAVE to know what." he reminded.

"No doubt he has, and yet the Maxies only have the tiger to find out." Barricade noted.

Pulling out something from his body, Tigatron then attempts to get inside. In this mode, he accessed the Predacon datatrax. Pressing a few buttons to get in, he commented "By the Matrix!" as he dived further and further into the Predacon archives, starting with their recent discoveries. From there, he was able to solve a puzzle to arrange Megatron's head. He managed to delve inside Megatron's Systems Directory, by finding a strange singular symbol amongst the many listed, and referenced it in Megatron's quarters that revealed the Golden Disk.

Terrorsaur notices this and takes cover.

"Well well." He popped out of cover and aimed his gun at Tigatron's head. "Looks like curiosity just claimed another cat."

In his quarters, with Inferno guarding, Megatron surmised. "There is a storm approaching. A storm of such magnitude, of such power, it is beyond imagination." Megatron continued his vaudeville ham but with a dark undertone. "And to think I would once have been satisfied with mere energon. To think that my ambitions lofted no higher than the conquest of Cybertron. Well, no longer. For I have been given a glimpse of power. Real power. And that power shall be MINE!"

"Provided that you fight hard for that power instead of planning for it, you weakling." Megatron spat out. He never liked schemers or those foolish enough to assume that power will come to them.

"And that is why we follow you to the end, Lord Megatron!" praised Barricade.

"Don't even twitch your whiskers, pussycat, or I'll fragment your hard drive." Terrorsaur threatened Tigatron who had recently moved out from data extraction.

"You cannot shoot. We have a truce, remember?" Tigatron reminded.

"Oh, I remember. But you know, my trigger finger, it just might forget." Terrorsaur inched his gun too close to Tigatron.

"Then permit me to jar its memory!" He transformed then speared Terrorsaur out of the way then ran off.

"Make a break for it, Tigatron! You don't wanna be their whipping boy!" Warpath shouted.

"Isn't torture a violation of the treaty?" asked Bumblebee.

"Tiger-boy just found out about that Golden Disk thing, Bee, no way the Preds are going to let him go with that data!" Grimlock pointed out.

"Get him! GET HIM!" Megatron shouted outrageously giving chase. He picked up Terrosaur at his feet and reminded "But no shooting. We ARE having a truce, remember?" Terrorsaur nods and Megatron releases him.

Tigatron tried running his way out of the Darksyde, but of course, his unfamilarity with it's interior proved he had no idea where to run back. He stopped when the Predacon lieutenant blocked his way.

"Yer mine, stripes!" Scorponok yelled as he gave chase.

"I'll get