They all returned.

"Man, transforming into animals, yet these Maximal guys preferred to shoot than just fight like animals?"

"Something like that, Air Raid." Smokescreen replied.

"And what's with one of them named after us Dinobots, Prime?" Grimlock asked.

"Dinobot? He defected to the Maximals as a member, after he attempted to wrest leadership from Megatron. He tried the same with the Maximals, but he eventually became an invaluable member, because his knowledge of the Predacons proved to be essential to the war effort."

"Sounds like Jetfire, but without the want for leadership."

"Funny, Silverbolt. Very funny." Jetfire rolled his eyes.

"And wait, the Maxies and the Preds got themselves new members?" Warpath asked.

"Sure, Tigatron and Blackarachnia."

"What happened to the spider lady?" Swoop asked.

"Predacons reprogrammed her to be one of them." Arcee answered.

"Could they do that?" Ironhide asked.

"Sure they do, by the use of the stasis pods hanging around in orbit. Maximals and Predacons have been fighting for whoever gets those pods. In return, the guy or girl who's in them gets to join either."

"Can I say it's pretty dumb of the Maxies to dump em in orbit when they should have been safe in the Axalon?"

"No you can't Air Raid. They would have been more broken in the crash if they stayed in the ship."

"Point taken Jazz."

The Autobots regrouped with the Predacons and Megatron, who had arrived early before them.

"Omega Scion, we've been interested to see what happened to our Maximal buddies in the future."

"Would you wish to see what happens to the Maximals?" he dully asked.

"Sure we would!" Jetfire proclaimed.

"Then please take a seat."

The Autobots take seats, from oldest to youngest as Omega Scion prepares the Orb.

In Cybertron, homing in, a male voice speaks...

"Transwarp ship Axalon, commanded by Optimus Primal, has not been found in normal space. We believe their pursuit of the Predacons who stole the Golden Disk may have taken them into another time zone."

The space station hanging outside orbit of Cybertron deployed probes from underneath...

"Temporal Probes launched." another male replied. The first continued...

"If Optimus and his crew are anywhere out there, we'll find them and bring them home."

The probes spread out to the far reaches of space; one breaks into the transwarp barrier to reach the alternate timeline to pre-historic Earth, where Primal and his crew are stranded.

"A probe from Cybertron?" Perceptor asked. "And it's capable of transwarp travel?! Splendid! I should definitely come up with such brilliant inventions!"

Knockout smirked "Count me in."

"Does that mean the Maxies are going home now?"

"Provided they connect to that probe, Jazz." Cliffjumper replied.

Back at pre-historic Earth, where Primal, Dinobot, Rattrap and Cheetor were walking back to the Axalon.

"Last one back to base is Predacon chow." Cheetor called, running for the base.

"No way, furball. I ain't starin' at no hairy cat-butt." Rattrap soon gave chase.

"That reminds me of a two certain scrapballs. And I had to drag them out of the mess they got themselves in when they ran into a Seeker patrol. In Neraxa." Ironhide says.

Cliffjumper and Smokescreen felt small at the glares of their older comrades.

"Well we-"

"Had Sideswipe to cover for that? Thanks to you, I got babysitting duty, compliments of Magnus."

Primal sighed and said...

"Optimus Primal - Maximize!" then flies ahead.

Just as Cheetor was overtaking Rattrap

"You lose again, Rattr..." he crashed into Primal. (Slag, Swoop and Sludge: Oooh!)

"Don't cats ever get tired of being stupid?" Rattrap commented, earning chuckles from Warpath.

"That was mega-low, Optimus. I was only racing Rattrap." Cheetor moaned upon standing up.

"I could have been a Predacon scout. When you're outside the base, pay attention."

"That goes for you kids, especially when there's things bigger than the Cons." Ironhide warned.

"But we ain't at war anymore, Ironhide." Smokescreen retorted.

"Even so, you still gotta pay attention! You don't even know who else is gonna come and listen to ya."

"You think Megatron's wasting his time playing games fool!" Dinobot said admonishingly "Dinobot- MAXIMIZE!" then transforms to Robot Mode. The quartet both later reached the shielded Axalon, which Primal orders "Sentinel, stand down..."

"Just like Sentinel Prime..." Silverbolt said, earning nods from Ultra Magnus and Jetfire.

Back at the Axalon... Rhinox was working on the computer, having received a signal that's difficult to decipher due to heavy Energon interference.

"Come on, come on..." Rhinox muttered.

"I'm guessing the big guy's the brains of this team." Air Raid said.

"Should have seen him tear up Predacon afts, Air Raid." Bumblebee commented.

"Yeah, quite a shame I missed it." the young Aerialbot commented.

"Not much of a shame it was. I have recordings of the viewings." Omega Scion assured.

"Sweet! Maybe we can look on what we missed."

Warpath, the Dinobots and Perceptor agreed.

"What's going on?" Primal asked, arriving with Dinobot, Cheetor and Rattrap.

"The long-range scanner. It's pickin' up signals from space. But I can't punch thru the Energon interference..." Rhinox replied.

"It's probably a Predacon trick. Or something worse." Dinobot surmised. Cheetor and Rattrap looked at each other. 

Rhinox would not be sure, and so he ordered "Rattrap, see if you can get me a visual."

"Yeah, on it! Rattrap - Maximize!" Rattrap transformed and went to another computer.

"They're really gonna do that all the time? That's getting annoying." Snarl replied.

"Yes they do!"

But the signal would still not be deciphered.

"I need more power." Rhinox requested.

"Cheetor..." Primal called.

"Maximize." Cheetor transformed as well, jumping in a computer to provide more power.

"Almost there. Come on baby, come on, clear up for the rat." Once the scanners were able to pass through the interference, it was able to clear up the signal. "Yes! Strip my gears and call me a floor lamp!" Rattrap cheered.

"Is that what I think it is?" The signal revealed itself to come from a probe.

"Yup. A temporal probe." Rhinox replied. "Cybertron's found us..."

"Yes we have. Just hope we'll come to rescue you." Jazz sarcastically commented.

"You're pulling our circuits. We're going home?!" Cheetor asked.

"IF we can make contact before it moves away..." Rhinox reminded. 

"YESSSSSS!" Cheetor excitedly cheered, spinning in his chair.

"Can you break through the interference?" Primal asked.

"I'm gonna give it a Maximal try..." Rhinox then works on the computer to reply to the probe. "Sending signal now!"

But the computer replies with...

[Hailing code not acknowledged. Probe moving beyond communications range.]

"Awwww..." said the young Autobots.

"Talk about major crash..." Cheetor slumped defeatedly.

The Maximals were demoralized, the probe was suddenly out of range to and from where they are.

"You did your best Rhinox." Primal assured. "No one could have done more."

"Yeah. Fearless leader's right." Rattrap added.

"No he's not." Rhinox retorted "I blew it." but he began to propose "But we might still have a chance."

"What do you mean?" Primal asked.

"You know how probes work. They home in on the transwarp signature of the missing ship." he said turning to Primal.

"But our transwarp engine's been offline since the crash." Rattrap explained.

"That's why the probe moved on. But it'll be back just before it leaves this system."

"So if we can duplicate our transwarp signature before it returns and send it to the probe..." Primal was interrupted by his 2nd in command...

"We'll be on our way home..." Rhinox concluded.

"Home! Alright!!!" Cheetor cheered.

But Dinobot was not so sure if he could even come home.

As the probe passes by the system, the Maximals got into their work implanting a foundation somewhere.

"That's our foundation. Let's get to work."

"You do realize we're in Predacon territory?" Dinobot pointed out.

"Yeah, you know, DinoBore's got a point. If the Preds catch us up here, we'll be beautiful targets." Rattrap added.

The veteran Autobots were now uncomfortable. Building a foundation in the middle of enemy territory surely meant dangerous risks. Especially with the risks of patrols around that perimeter.

"This was the nearest clear zone. Building the signal array here is our best shot at contacting the probe and Tigatron will watch our backs." Primal emphasized, as Tigatron looked around on patrol for enemy sentries.

"Ahhhh. The air is sweet today. I wonder if Cybertron can match such natural beauty." he commented. Until he spotted Waspinator flying around in the air. "Waspinator. Tigatron - Maximize!" then transforms to his Robot Mode.

"No matter what Megatron say, Waspinator is tired of searching for Maximals." the wasp Predacon whined. (Megatron: Insubordinate insect.)

Tigatron popped out of cover and fired, knocking Waspinator out of action.

"Wow, he sounds quite a lot like Ironhide when he's had that modified voice box back in Kandalor." Warpath joked.

Ironhide glared at him.

"Your search is over Predacon. Next time you're looking for Maximals keep your mind on the job." Until Tarantulas appeared.

"His job was bait..."

"And you're the trap?"

"Not a trap Maximal. A test!"

"Of what?"

"Of my little toy..." A small drone with a crystal lens appeared behind Tigatron, who fired, masked by Tarantulas' manical laughter.

Heard from afar, Rattrap notified "Yoiiks! Missile fire!"

"Optimus to Tigatron." Primal hailed, but no reply from Tigatron.

"Cheetor, scout and report, go!" he ordered the young Maximal, who replied "I'm gone! Beast Mode!" then bolts off to Tigatron's last known location.

"I'll follow him. He may need my warrior skills." Dinobot offered, but Primal stopped him.

"No, we need you here. We haven't got much time to finish the array."

Dinobot then replied "Of course...we wouldn't want to miss our chance to go...'home'." (Warpath: Someone's not looking forward to go home.)

"Hey, Hey, Hey! What's biting your sensors DinoBoob?" Rattrap asked inquisitively "You act like you don't want to get offa this dirt ball. Afraid you'll miss your Pred-head friends?"

"YOU'RE what I'm afraid of." Dinobot argued "You're so eager to go home,but your home is not mine. I am Predacon despite our alliance. And when your ship comes to rescue you,my fate will be the same as Megatron's. Perhaps even worse..." he mulled.

"Ah don't worry, perhaps the chaps will see that you are treated as the Maximal you are now." Perceptor assured.

"We won't let that happen, Dinobot. You're a Maximal now and we'll see that you're treated as one." Primal assured.

"And... what makes you think I want to be?" Dinobot walked out.

Back to Tigatron, he fired at the drone in a panic. It soon fired it's laser, prompting Tigatron to dodge, too soon. Amidst Tarantulas laughing sadistically.

"You're only wearing yourself out. Inevitably, the Lens will find you." Tarantulas taunted.

The Lens' laser reached Tigatron, not really hurting him, but forcefully converting him back to Beast Mode.

"So that's what it does." Knockout commented.

"By the Matrix, what's...happening?" Tigatron asks.

"It works. How gratifying." Tarantulas gleefully spouts out.

"Tarantulas - Terrorize!" he transformed to Robot Form.

"TIGATRON--MAXIMIZE!" he was unable to transform, he tries again "MAXIMIZE!" but no response, he's locked in Beast Mode!

"Isn't life full of surprises?" 

Tigatron jumps at Tarantulas, but the wicked scientist slaps him to a corner and blasts a cyber-web, ensnarling the white tiger Maximal. He tries to get out, but the web delivers a shock around his body. Putting him out cold.

"Poor tiger. You never had a chance."

Cheetor arrives in defense of the downed Tigatron. Weapon aimed at the tarantula Predacon.

"He's got a better chance than you, chuckles. One wrong move and you're wreckage. Step away from Tigatron, slowly."

Tarantulas drops his gun and feigns surrender.

"As you wish..." he said, sidestepping and allowing the Lens appear to fire it's laser at Cheetor.

"What the..." Too late, the lens' laser forces him back on Beast Mode. "Hey! Cheetor -- Maximize!" like Tigatron he cannot transform.

"Don't cats ever get tired of being stupid?" Tarantulas sneers picking up his gun and fires his cyber-web at Cheetor, knocking out the young Maximal.

"Two down, four to go." then he takes both Maximals back to the Darksyde.

Back at the Axalon, Rhinox was busy making enhancing the signal with the transmitter installation. He was able to with "Transwarp signature replicated. Computer, how much time before the Probe's back in signal range?"

"You'd better hurry up Maxies! Them Preds are gonna find out whatcha doing!" Warpath commented impatiently.

"Maxies?"

"What we call the Maximals!"

Megatron sighed and said "Children."

"Infantile indeed. But he does have a point. Those fools will find out what the Maximals are up to. This endeavor of theirs will not go unpunished." Predaking added.

[One-point-four mega-cycles.]

"Better get my gears in high." Rhinox commented, getting a data disk as a copy from the computer.

At the installation, Primal hails "Optimus to Cheetor and Tigatron. Respond at once." but no reply from either Maximal.

After observing what the Maximals are up to via spy cam, Scorponok releases a copy and gives it to Terrorsaur.

"Megatron must know. Take this to him immediately I'll keep an eye on the Maximals. Whatever they're doing we'll soon put a stop to it." he monologued. Terrorsaur nods and flies away.

Back at the Darksyde, where the installation under construction is being monitored by the ship's sensors.

"Is it a weapon?" Megatron asked.

"It looks more like a long-range signal array." Blackarachnia answered.

"Yessss. But why would Optimus risk building it inside our perimeter?" Megatron wonders.

"Maybe we should ask the kittens?" she proposed.

"Excellent idea." Megatron goes along and wakes up the imprisoned Maximals.

"Talk about nightmares!" Cheetor woke up shaking his fur as if he just got wet from the rain.

"Your nightmares are just beginning Maximal. Unless you tell me about this signal array Optimus is building?" Megatron asked interrogatively.

"Why don't you ask him yourself... MegaDum?" Cheetor replied impulsively.

The young Autobots snickered, but were surprised that Megatron was as amused as they are. Isn't the one they saw a descendant of him or something?

"You're trying my patience feline." Megatron said pounding on Cheetor's cell.

Until the Darksyde started beeping a shrill.

"What's that?" Megatron asked.

"The space scanner. It's picking up some sort of craft. It will be over the planet in ten cycles." Tarantulas answered, registering the computer's detection of a craft passing past the planet.

"The Probe!" Cheetor blurted, causing the older Autobots to facepalm.

"Probe?" Megatron suddenly realized what Cheetor said and turned to Tarantulas and Blackarachnia "Prepare for full scale assault. The array must be destroyed immediately. Tarantulas, bring the Transformation Lock Lens."

Tarantulas nods, bringing the Transformation Lock Lens with him and mobilizes to battle with Blackarachnia.

"Me and my big mouth." Cheetor facefaulted in shame. (Air Raid: Yep, and now you've just blown your chance of going home kid.)

"They would have attacked the array anyway." Tigatron assured. "But at least they left us unguarded." and came up with a plan to swing his cage from the inside, allowing force and inertia to literally rock the cage.

"What are you doing?"

"You always say what a swinging cat you are, so start swinging and maybe we can free ourselves from these cages." Cheetor soon followed suit.

"Hehehe, swinging cat. Nice." Ironhide chuckled.

Back at the array...

"Done. All it needs now is the transwarp module. Assuming Rhinox can get it here in time." Dinobot notified when the array has finished it's construction.

"Hey. Don't worry he will. Not that you give a nanobyte." Rattrap joked.

"Rattrap!" Primal berated.

"To the Inferno with both of you." Dinobot walked away... only to get shot in the back.

"Megatron has ordered this tower demolished." Scorponok proclaimed.

"Interceptors, fire!" Primal ordered, readying his shoulder cannons to fire a pair of missiles to strike at Scorponok's before they even touched the array.

"Chew on this Optimus Primal..." Scorponok prepares his left hand, but it gets blown off by Rattrap.

"I don't think so..." Rattrap started.

"And I REALLY don't think so!" Dinobot finished, firing his optic lasers at Scorponok, sending the Predacon flying.

Back at the Darksyde, after a few tries, Tigatron and Cheetor were able to swing at each other, causing the cages to break, and both to fall. While Tigatron managed to land safely, Cheetor was about to fall into a long pit of lava, but the former snatches the latter by the tail and pull him up.

"I knew that was good for something other than swatting flies. What now?" Cheetor says.

"Do you know where the Predacon's Repair Chamber is? So we can escape this transformation lock?"

Having been to the Darksyde a few times before, Cheetor leads Tigatron... "Follow me..." and both went on their way.

Back at the array...

"Scorponok's attack was meant only to soften us up. Megatron will be coming in force." Dinobot warned.

"Well, Maybe Rhinox'll get here before them?" they heard Terrorsaur's signature screech "Or maybe not."

Alone, Terrorsaur returned fire against heavy Maximal resistance for a while before he fled from the battle.

"Hey, where's leatherpuss going?" Rattrap asked.

"He always was a coward." Dinobot sneered. (Jetfire: Just like Starscream.)

"Granted... but he makes an excellent diversion." Megatron arrived in force, now against the outnumbered Maximal defenders.

"Oooooooh boy, the Maxies are in for a heck of a scrap!" Jazz commented.

"Don't worry, they got this again." Wheeljack added.

"You