"So Dinobot's attempt to defect... because of his realizations... what have you found out, Dinobot?" Prime wondered.

"Perhaps he discovered the truth about what he initially misinterpeted, and of the Golden Disks themselves..." Ultra Magnus surmised.

"Guessing about this will not help. Omega Scion will show us why." Ratchet spoke.

"You're right, old friend. Omega Scion, if you may."

"Very well... in three... two... one..."

Inside the Axalon, Rhinox and Dinobot were analyzing the Golden Disk. Finding three of the three symbols consistent with the previous alien landing sites.

"Stop..." Rhinox then saw the comparison done by the analysis. "Map known Alien sites in relation to our position." Upon it's revelation by the map, based on the trajectory from the Axalon, began to run a triangulation pattern that surrounds them in a triangle lane where the Axalon is at the centre.

"A definite pattern." Dinobot muttered.

"One we can use to find more of these things. If any still exist..."

"Better for us if they don't." Dinobot retorted. "We were fortunate to survive the aliens' last visit."

"Scan by Grid to maximum range..." Rhinox ordered.

[Probable locations of alien constructs: Complete.]

Dinobot turned to the command table and looked into the globe, where he expresses his frustration.

"Tracking these ruins is a waste of time. Megatron is the greater threat."

"Didn't you try to defect to the Predacons before?" Skyquake asked.

"Giving him back the Golden Disk didn't help." Rhinox pointed out.

"I had my reasons, as I told Optimus." Dinobot replied in defense.

"Sometimes Optimus trusts too much." Rhinox muttered.

"I knew that feeling..." Ultra Magnus muttered. Prime was indeed WAY too trusting to even Decepticon defectors, several of which had attempted to literally deactivate him in his sleep, were it not for his timely interventions.

[Alien signature detected. Location - Grid Zeiram.]

"Slag! Tigatron and Airazor were heading for that Grid!" Rhinox spat out.

"We must contact them at once!" Dinobot suggested. "If they trigger alien defenses, all comm channels are blocked." He tried raising comms to hail both of his comrades.

"I got the feeling that's not going to be easy as planned." Smokescreen pointed out.

"Megatron's built another jamming station." Rhinox muttered in realization. "Rhinox to all field units..." he tried to hail, but no response from nearby Maximals.

"The jamming station's extended to the Axalon. Now the Maximals are directionless." Jetfire pointed out.

"Here's to hoping they get around in time before Tiger and Birdie-girl do something dumb in that alien turf." Wheeljack commented.

"Rattrap and I will destroy that station." Dinobot then attempted to leave the Axalon to do what he said.

Meanwhile, Tarantulas was busy with his new lair. Making the finishing touches that was reminsicent of his old lair, that was destroyed by the alien weapon before.

"Almost done." he muttered. "Of course I could have done it faster with a little help. But they're all "too busy" with Megatron's scheme. Even that vile-"

[Alien energy matrix detected.]

"At last! I knew some trace of my prey would be left." Tarantulas gleefully screeched. He transformed to his vehcle mode and boosted off to the coordinates his computer left him.

"I gotta feeling that Pred-Megs would catch wind with what Tarantulas is doing by far. I just hope it's not a coincidence." Sideswipe said.

Aboard the Darksyde, Blackarachnia grew immediately disatisfied with fiddling with the monitor per Megatron's orders.

"Monitor duty again! Being loyal to Megatron sure is boring." she whined out of tediousness. All while Megatron overhears her from above, apparently unpleased with her contempt towards him. Until the monitor picked up a signal.

"What loyalty to dare backtalk to your leader. Except you weren't discrete about it, because he heard you." Starscream commented.

"Hmmmmm... Looks like ole gruesome has finally surfaced." Blackarachnia checked on the monitor.

"Where?" Megatron arrived.

"The Royalty asked you a question." Inferno also arrived, demanding to Blackarachnia "Answer!"

"Grid Vaxon." Blackarachnia replied "Moving fast too..."

"Megatron to Tarantulas! Reply at once..." he tried to hail the mad genius, but he earned no response from the tarantula Predacon.

"Loyalty, quite a fickle thing for you, especially when you care for none but yourself." Megatron spat out.

"Blast that scheming spider. Again he defies me." Megatron groaned.

"Say the word, my queen, and he shall burn." Inferno asked, eager to burn traitors who dare defy the will of his royalty.

"Not just yet." Megatron belayed. "And for the last time, STOP calling me that!" 

"As you command, My-" Megatron silenced Inferno by clamping his throat. He then gave his next order "Stay on him Blackarachnia. And scan that entire Grid. Let's see what he's in such a hurry to get to, yess." the Predacon lord said his favorite phrase out of displeasure of Tarantulas' initiative.

"I knew it." Sideswipe smirked.

"Not a reply from his mad genius. Looks like the Preda-fakes are at the moment, going to monitor what their crazy spider's up to." Bulkhead spouted.

"You really have to stop with the obviousness Bulk. We're not blind." Wheeljack reproached his hulking friend.

Outside, Tigatron found a floating plant sauntering in the air, even towards him inadvertently. He stopped and smelled it's majestic flora, and felt amazed by it's smell.

"Plant life. The first I've detected since the alien attack." Tigatron mulled. "We must find it." and dashed off with Airazor following.

Elsewhere, in the skies, Primal tries to hail Cheetor for updates regarding Tigatron and Airazor's whereabouts. "Optimus to Cheetor, have you found them yet?"

"Can hardly hear ya big bot. Megs is jamming the entire grid." Cheetor replied.

"Slag! Rattrap and Dinobot haven't taken out the jamming station yet. Maximum Burn!" and boosted off.

"Oh come on!" Warpath moaned.

"Calm it kid. Destroying stations take time. Not like Rattrap and Dinobot take things immediately right before it starts." Ironhide assured.

"I felt like it's going to be too late to save Tigatron and Airazor by then." Bumblebee stated. He got throttled by Air Raid.

"Don't say that! Don't you say that!" Air Raid angrily demanded.

Smokescreen and Cliffjumper moved in to calm Air Raid down.

Elsewhere, Airazor looked to a clearing where flora and fauna prosper and mulled "Odd. This canyon looks fresh." and dived down to the canyon. She regrouped with Tigatron and moved further to the canyon where a strange plant was growing the same flowers they encountered.

"By the Matrix! Magnificent! I've never seen a plant like this before. Better scan it." Airazor transformed and pulled out a scanning device.

"I'd forgotten what beauty this planet once offered." Tigatron added when he transformed as well.

Unbeknownst to either, a series of vines silthered towards them like snakes.

"Get outta there, it's a trap!" Warpath shouted.

"No, stay there, it's so not a trap!" cackled Vortex.

Just as both began to share a moment of love...

Air Raid tightened his fists in jealousy.

... the vine began to wrap around their legs, and soon their arms and bodies.

"Tigatron!!!"

"Airazor!!!"

"NO!" Air Raid shouted. "You let them go you alien freaks!"

"Wherever we go, my Spark will find yours!" Tigatron declared.

As both Maximals were hoisted as the vines thicken around them....

"And mine... yours." Airazor replied. They later held hands together as alien energies surround their bodies.

The Autobots were in a shock.

As a bullet of alien energy comes towards the Earth bridging towards the plant, catching both Tigatron and Airazor inside. Cheetor arrived, trying to stop the beam from taking his friends, but it repelled him. Giving him quite the Energon buildup that forced him to land and transform. When the alien beam retracted from the earth, Cheetor screamed "NOOOO!!!!!!"

"Tigatron...Airazor... are...they..."

"No! No they're not! The aliens wouldn't just kill them for just trashing their stuff! There's no way they can be that petty!" Warpath cuts Bumblebee off.

"No. They would have had an agenda. A plan for both of them." Prime spoke, in a tone that frightened his subordinates to the core.

But the alien occurence was also detected by the Darksyde as well.

"By the Pit. An alien signal! So that's what Tarantulas is after..." Megatron wondered...

"And it looks like he's there. And so is a Maximal!" Blackarachnia notified as the computer picked up two signals, one Maximal and one Predacon.

"Look out Cheetor!" yelled Warpath.

"We could have warned them." Cheetor cursed, coping with the believed death of his comrades. "If that stinking Megatron hadn't jammed us, we could have-"

"Well, you didn't!" Tarantulas interrupted, brandishing a weapon that knocked Cheetor out cold with a blast of cyber-venom.

"Welcome back..." he said sarcastically greeting the aliens.

"Yes, welcome back indeed aliens! We've been waiting for you... with party favors!" Vortex replied with his modified vocal cord sounding like Tarantulas. The Combaticons laughed.

"So much for the Maximal..." Blackarachnia commented.

"He must have activated the alien site..." Megatron surmised. "I have been careless."

"Not careless. Just unobservant and ignorant." Predaking complimented.

"I'm picking up two more Maximals headed for that position. Do we help Tarantulas?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Royalty! Waspinator and Quickstrike report a Maximal attack at jamming tower 3." Inferno reported. "Shall I reinforce them?"

"No." Megatron refused. "With most of the Maximals in the field and considering the circumstances... it's time we retrieved the Alien Disk."

"This isn't good. With only Rhinox in the base, and the Maximals now scattered in the field, that alien disk is as good as taken." Ultra Magnus said.

"Didn't they have Sentinel?" 

"It didn't stop them, Smokescreen."

Meanwhile, Tarantulas was busy carving into the roots of the inert alien plant, when he heard flight, he gasped. "Optimus Primal! Beast Mode." and fled silthering away as the Maximals arrived.

"Cheetor!" Primal transformed and placed a sealant inside to resuscitate Cheetor. He briefly woke up and gasped "Airazor, Tigatron!"

"Where are they, Cheetor?" Primal asked.

"They were inside that crazy plant." Cheetor replied. "It, it sent them into space."

Elsewhere, while Dinobot had fired back at the defending Predacons, destroying the jamming tower in the process, Rattrap hailed "Rattrap to Fearless Leader. Mission accomplished. You reading me TransMonkey?"

"Loud and clear." Primal replied, once the comms were now open and free of the jamming.

"Told ya." 

Air Raid tried to jump on Bumblebee but he was held back by Jetfire and Silverbolt.

"Sorry it took so long. We ran into a little opposition." the tower falls upon the defenders. "Who we nailed." Rattrap concluded.

"Waspinator pinned like iron butterfly." he moaned.

"Oh bot up, you pathetic waste of scrap!" Skyquake hissed.

"So get on the horn and warn the Lady and the Tiger-"

"Too late." Primal cuts off.

"What?" Rattrap asked in shock.

"Make sure that station is down for good then return to base." Primal ordered.

"Yeah. Will do Fearless Leader!" Rattrap then recalls to Dinobot to head back to base.

"Should have taken it out earlier before they both stepped into that plant, fools!" Onslaught derided.

"Optimus to Rhinox!" Primal hailed Rhinox.

"Optimus, did you see it? The signal-"

"No." Primal cuts off Rhinox. "But Cheetor said it took Tigatron and Airazor."

"What?" now it was Rhinox's turn to be shocked.

"See what you can find out. We'll be there soon. Optimus out."

Shaken by the revelation of Tigatron and Airazor's abduction, he ordered the computer to. "Freeze image." when it froze the image, Rhinox ordered "Magnify..." and saw two images of energy reassembling both Tigatron and Airazor.

"Those freaks... when I get my hands on them, I-" Air Raid cuts off his curse short.

Before Rhinox could investigate further, the Axalon's alarm sets off.

[Perimeter attack. Predacon Unit Megatron.]

"Autoguns online!" Rhinox ordered.

Megatron appeared, seemingly alone when the defenses retract from the hull and point TOO CLOSELY at him. One of which was a large variety of guns and cannons aiming at him at the ready in case he dared to fire first.

"Darn! Look at the big guns! I gotta have that in my property!" Warpath cheered.

"No!"

"YES!" Warpath argued back to Bumblebee.

"I, er, I come in peace..." Megatron tried to reason.

But Rhinox was in no mood for whatever games Megatron was playing. "You're about to leave in pieces." he threatened after the turret unfurled a speaker.

"No need for violence Rhinox. I merely wish to talk." he offered reasonably, not preferring to raise his cannon for once. All while Inferno and Blackarachnia snuck inside undetected.

"It was a distraction." Dreadwing commented.

"Go ahead. It's a free planet. I'm busy." Before long, the speaker elicited a screeching cacophony that was certainly discomforting for Megatron to hear.

Some of the audience laughed at the incident.

"I also gotta have that to keep out them pesky cyber-bugs sneaking round my property too! And them cyber-rats trying to nibble on my Energon bits!" Warpath cheered while laughing.

"Me too!" agreed Grimlock.

Megatron snarled "Stubborn Maximal fool! He'll soon regret this impertinence."

Inside, Blackarachnia placed an bug in the Axalon's critical systems. "Done! Ready to rock and roll insect?"

"I don't rock and roll." Inferno retorted. "I burn!"

"Hey, that's my bit, you little bug!" Cliffjumper protested.

"Why?"

"Cause when I burn, I burn rubber!" Cliffjumper answered to Arcee, who only cringed at the inadvertent pun.

The shorting the bug delivered had started a cause effect that weakens the defenses to stand down, powering down the assorted variety of guns. Megatron wickedly grinned with a ham "Looks like we'll have a little chat after all Rhinox. Yesss!" as he enters the depowered Axalon.

"Back-ups on line. Restore shields." Rhinox ordered the emergency systems and hailed "Rhinox to Optimus... Rhinox to Optimus, Code X." but he was cut short when Inferno arrived with Blackarachnia. He pressed the button that spun and retracted the vulnerable Rhinox towards him.

"Where are ya Maxies?! Rhinox can't take on three Preds on his own!" Warpath asked frantically.

"They're awfully late, that's for sure." commented Ironhide.

"They'd better get there soon, cause I don't think Rhinox can hold them off for long." Ultra Magnus added.

"Optimus here. Come in, Rhinox. Come in, Rhinox." Primal tried to replied.

"GOODBYE!!!" Inferno yelled as he fired, seemingly knocking Rhinox down a peg.

"I'll get the Disk." Blackarachnia converged on the contained Golden Disk.

"The Royalty said we were not to touch it until he..." suddenly, Rhinox got up, chortling "That hurt." and started beating the scrap out of Inferno. After exchanging fists with him, Rhinox got the upper hand and smashed Inferno to the monitor, indirectly causing the protective field to short out, dropping the Disk before Blackarachnia's feet.

(AN: Yeah, I know Rhinox did Rock'em, Sock'em Robots with Inferno, but I decided that this was much better)

She tried to pick up and carry the disk, but Rhinox aimed his chaingun of doom at her.

"You don't wanna try it." He said dangerously. "The disk... I believe that belongs to me." Until Megatron appeared, severing Rhinox's arm and swatting him away.

"Scrap!"

"Not everyday we win, Warpath." Ironhide reminded.

"The advantage is mine again. As it was destined to be." Megatron boasted holding the Golden Disk again.

"Reinforcements coming Chief!" Blackarachnia notified.

"Then let us return to base." Megatron ordered "We have no time for Maximals now."

"When do we ever?" Blackarachnia then slipped something out from her mind. "Except maybe for that hunky Silver..."

"Uh oh, somebody's returning the heat sinks for Maxie-Bolt..." Jazz teased. "Widow there's got the love bug alright!"

Silverbolt gritted his teeth. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS!"

"Chill, Bolt, you haven't known that yet. Maybe Blackarachnia can just..."

"One more from you, Air Raid, and you'll be on latrine duty for a week!" Silverbolt threatened.

Air Raid kept his mouth shut.

Megatron pulled Inferno up and slapped him awake with two slaps across his face. He hushed him before the ant Predacon could say anything grateful and pushed him out of the Axalon.

"Oh no..."

Later, as Rhinox was recovering under the supervision of Primal...

"I can't believe I let Megatron sucker me like that." Rhinox moaned.

"Let it go big fella." Primal assured. "We have important matters to discuss."

"Yeah, like how do we save Tigatron and Airazor?" Cheetor stepped in.

"They are casualties of war." Dinobot protested.

"They were taken away by those aliens!" Bumblebee protested back.

"Better to concentrate on saving ourselves when our alien enemy returns." he suggested.

"Just what I'd expect from a Predacon..." Cheetor spat out.

"Maximal or Predacon, what difference does it make? These aliens seek to destroy us all!" Dinobot argued.

"I've already faced the void once fighting these aliens." Primal said next. "And if that's the price we have to pay, then we'll pay it."

"No... not at the expense of the aliens you can't." Prime pointed out.

"It's like I always say, we're all gonna die." Rattrap pointed out. Before everyone would retort, the rat Transmetal cuts them short "I know, I know - 'shut up Rattrap'."

"At least you know when to keep your mouth shut." Arcee spouted out.

While the Golden Disk is under analysis in Predacon base, Blackarachnia mulled. "How's this disk supposed to help us survive beings who can scorch a planet?"

"It has secrets, I alone know." Megatron replied. "But which I alone can implement..." someone familiar said behind him.

This infuriated Megatron to the core, as he turned around and saw Tarantulas. Inferno was about to shoot him, but Megatron intervened by swatting Inferno aside "NO! He is mine."

"You've done well." Tarantulas stepped in. "This will