"Do you remember the mysterious aliens? Well, as it seems, there could be more to them than a mere probe. They may have as well created weapons not even imaginable to the Cybertronian mind?"

"And what sort of weapon would that be, Scion?"

"That I cannot reveal. You will have to find out yourself."

The recent guests were confused. What did the Autobots mean by 'mysterious aliens'? Knowing that questioning would not help, they decided to let Omega Scion give them the answers.

"Commencing viewing in 3...2...1..."

In the icy regions (under Maximal control thanks to Tigatron), the entire landscape began to shake up. Solid snow began fallling under the mountains, even in one down on Tigatron.

"By all the forces! This is not a volcanic area!" Tigatron exclaimed as a piece of solid snow fell on his head.

"Oddly." Shockwave said.

"What do you mean?" asked Megatron.

"Volcanic crusts in the north do not tend to shake up so suddenly. Not unless there is a volcano erupting around the region Tigatron has taken residence in."

"It must be the same aliens that made that probe." Ratchet theorized.

"Aliens?" asked Barricade.

"Primal was sealed inside the probe early on before you showed up. Rattrap assumed command until they were able to extract Primal out of the probe. It must be from the aliens."

"Soundwave?"

"Mysterious benefactors: Insubstancial. Required additional information urgent, Lord Megatron."

"Curious. Though I am close to this rugged lands, they still have their secrets. And I have my duties. Time for my weekly report." then Tigatron moves across the lands to where he is posted.

Meanwhile, Terrorsaur and Waspinator are flying around in Beast Mode, looking fresh and ready for the hunt.

"The Maximal is in view!" Terrorsaur barked

"Ohh, Waspinator loves victims that are punctual!" then both Predacons move in for the flight.

"This ain't gonna be good for stripes. With them Preds flying 'round for him, he'd better watch his backside." Ironhide commented.

"Hope he makes that report in time. Wouldn't look good for him to look late for the Maxies." Silverbolt said.

"That's to include some back-up too to keep those pesky Pred flyers off his back." Jetfire added.

"Tigatron, maximize."

Arriving at his post, he began his scouting duty, and hailed the Axalon.

"Maximal Base, please respond."

Back in the aforementioned ship, Optimus Primal checked on Rhinox "How is your tidal research going?"

"Mmm, got some odd anomalies." the scientist replied. "It would almost seem that one of the moons is... lighter than it should be. Not enough mass for its size. It's as though it were... hollow." Rhinox typed in the computer which analyzes the moon.

Perceptor theorized "I have a hunch it would be those aliens... given that they may have the means to reduce the weight and mass of the moon. But to what extent, I don't know."

"There could be more to them than that Perceptor, but we have no evidence to support that." Ratchet answered.

"Instrument error?" Primal asked.

"Maybe..." but Rhinox was not really sure.

"This is Tigatron, calling Maximal Base. Maximal Base, come in!" Tigatron repeatedly hailed, which Rattrap lazily answered.

"Hello, you've reached Good Guy's Central! So, what's new, pussy-cat?"

Back at Tigatron's post...

"Any pred prowls up there?"

"There's Waspinator and Terrorsaur lurking around." Arcee bluntly replied.

"This is a peaceful land, Rattrap, at least for the moment. I'm not seeing..." the radar detected two signatures, alerting Tigatron.

Terrorsaur and Waspinator transformed and dived in for the attack.

"Demise that! I'm being attacked!" before he was cut off by incoming gunfire. He dodged an incoming round falling directly at him. He looked around and saw Terrorsaur fire a round that caused the radar array he was posted in to fall on him.

"Ooooh!" chortled the Dinobots.

"He couldn't go offline by that, right?" Sideswipe asked.

"Well, it takes a ton of luck to even survive that, Swipe." Smokescreen assured.

"Stripes! Yo, Stripy! Do you read?"

Without a reply from Tigatron, Rattrap tried to hail again.

"Oh, come on, man, say something!"

Primal prepared to go in via flight, but he seemed hesitant in leaving his subordinates behind.

"Go! I'll alert the others!" Rhinox advised.

"Prime-jets, on!" Primal flies out of the Axalon as Tigatron screamed when the array fell on him. 

"Must he always go alone?"

"I mean, they got Airazor, so the Preds don't have the air superiority anymore." Jazz corrected Perceptor.

Tigatron survived, pushing the array off him. With barely any time to react, not enough when the Predacons attacked again, Tigatron fired at them again, but they made another run when Terrorsaur prepared and fired a missile, prompting Tigatron to take cover. To his surprise, the missile did not detonate on impact.

The Combaticons were in for a mix. Some were laughing but Onslaught was shaking his head.

"Did Terrorsaur bring a dud in the battle? That made Starscream looked prepared when he's on a mission!" Vortex said laughing.

"Or Blast Off." Swindle jabbed.

"Hey!"

But Waspinator interevened by firing rapidly, prompting Tigatron to roll out of the way, causing the missile to explode in reaction, knocking Tigatron clear, sending him nearly over the edge of the cliff. He saw a strange cloud passing by, but the explosion had caused a rumbling akin to an earthquake, prompting him to stand up and run for the other side, which he barely made through. Tigatron struggled to pull up and maintain his grip, but the snow and ice proved to be treacherously slippery for him so much so, that he was losing his grip quickly and soon he fell screaming into the cloud.

The Autobots gasped. Did Tigatron go offline?

"If he went offline, Primal better get his chassis." Ironhide grimly commented.

"No chance! No way Tigatron would go down that easily!" Warpath protested.

"Cool your cannons, Warpath! We don't even know if Tigatron's online and kicking."

"He'd better be, Jazz! He's too tough to get blasted that quickly!"

Up on the sky, both Predacons were boasting in their victory, thinking Tigatron terminated.

"Success! Maximal destroyed!"

"Let's gather some fragments. Megatron will want proof." Terrorsaur suggested.

"Waspinator wants his heaaad!" the wasp Predacon flies in, despite Terrorsaur's early attempt to stop him, prompting the latter to race after him.

"It's MINE, bug-face!" Terrorsaur proclaimed.

"Where Maximal go?"

"We saw him fall into that cloud..." then Terrorsaur races into the cloud.

"Wait for Waspinator!" he attempted to catch up.

They moved into the cloud... and soon after they went missing as well even if they fired their weapons.

"Optimus to Command Center! This is Optimus Primal, anyone hear me?"

Cheetor moved, shoving Rhinox aside, to reply.

"We hear you, BigBot! What's the stich, where is my fellow cat-bot?"

By the time he arrived at Tigatron's post, Primal looked around at the razed position.

"This place has seen some heavy actions. It doesn't look good. Tigatron's footprints lead to a broken cliff edge. We have to face a grim possibility, team."

This began to worry the Maximals.

"Tigatron... may have been destroyed."

They gasped.

"That ain't true and you know it!" Warpath protested, prompting Grimlock to hold him back.

"Calm your circuits! Tigatron's a tough cookie, he can make it!"

Warpath just sat down.

"Are we going to list out a casuality for the Maximals, Commander?"

"Negative Magnus. Do not confirm until we have seen the actuality of it." Prime replied sternly.

"Yes, sir."

"Say it ain't so, BigBot! Not our Stripe Scout!" Cheetor replied in panic, refusing to believe that Tigatron is dead.

Primal worked on the radar array previously assigned to Tigatron and replied...

"This place is a battle ground! Blast craters and missile debris everywhere! From the angle, it was an aerial attack." Prime replied.

"Waspinator and Terrorsaur." Dinobot deduced.

"Oh, thanks for the insight there, Dino-brain." Rattrap jeered. "You want your expert consultant fee now?"

"No need. I can simply extract it from your hide!" Dinobot threatened.

"HEY! NOT NOW!" Rhinox interrupted, then turned to reply to Primal "If Tigatron's been scrapped, there oughta be few components..."

"Haven't found any... but he's not answering the comlink. Destroyed or captured, he's not around here."

"But he's gotta be around there somewhere! Look for that cloud!" Warpath protested: he was not used to seeing his closest friends die.

Meanwhile, back at the Darksyde, in a faraway position, Airazor, with her sharp eyes, spies a weary Waspinator and Terrorsaur returning to base.

"Either the grunge look is coming back, or those two ran into something hot. I better report." then flies back.

Back in the interior, Megatron asked...

"What? Tigatron did this to you?"

"No, no! Not just Tigatron!" Waspinator replied, though as wounded as Terrorsaur.

"It...It...It was an...a monument!" Terrorsaur replied.

"Yeah, monument!"

Curious, Megatron inquired "Explain yourselves."

"We, we, we thought Tigatron was finished." Waspinator explained.

"We, we followed him, as he fell into... a cloud! But inside, it was not just a cloud... We... barely made it back."

The audience were in awe...

"A floating island?" Predaking asked.

"Could that be the source of the moon's reduced weight and mass?" Perceptor asked.

"Hold on, Autobots. There could be more than just the island itself." Prime advised.

In it, Terrorsaur and Waspinator flew in an floating island to catch up to Tigatron and fired at him, prompting the armed Maximal to take cover and fire back. But the disturbance of the firefight causes an emitting light from atop a monolithic tower to blast at Terrorsaur and Waspinator, knocking both out of flight.

The ex-Decepticons were shocked in sight of the display of a weapon.

"Lord Megatron... such a weapon can be advisable to our defenses and territories. I suggest we make one."

".... If that can be considered possible. But we don't have a territory yet!" Megatron's reply made Shockwave sit down.

"Could it be from the aliens that made that probe, Optimus?"

"Maybe. But we are not sure if they did, Ratchet."

Terrorsaur fainted out of exhaustion, on top of Waspinator.

"A flying island... Concealed from view...Which contains a powerful weapon... This could be... useful, yess. Such a tactical advantage could end the Beast Wars once and for all!" Megatron turns to his wounded subordinates... "Get to the CR Chamber!" then to "Blackarachnia, Scorponok!" where both Predacons stand by. 

"Prepare for immediate departure to that flying island!" Megatron ordered.

"I suppose you wish to take that island WITHOUT discovering it's origins?" his 'ancestor' sarcastically asked.

"He would be a fool to discard an option. Taking an weapon without studying it can be dangerous to his faction." Shockwave surmised.

"You don't think it might be wise to first discover WHO created such an artifact? Or why?" (Shockwave: My thoughts exactly.)

"Do not question my orders!" Megatron argued. "Time enough for such inquiries when we control the Island's power! But Tigatron is there already. He must be eliminated before he can alert the other Maximals. Now, go!"

"Alright..." Blackarachnia relented "Shell-head, let's move." but before that...

"One moment, Scorponok." Megatron went into a sidebar with his second in command, which Blackarachnia wistfully watches waiting for his partner to finish. Afterwards, he moved past Blackarachnia... much to the pensiveness of the widow Predacon.

"Something in my processors tell me she's on to something Megatron doesn't know..."

Taking what Arcee had said about Blackarachnia, both Soundwave and Megatron knew too well what she was talking about. And it reminded them of Airachnid.

"Suspicion much?" Smokescreen asked.

"Don't bother." she coldly replied.

Back at the Axalon, Airazor made her report to Primal and Rhinox, both were as skeptical as she is.

"You're sure of this?" Primal asked.

"Positive. It was Terrorsaur and Waspinator, and they were seriously slagged! Almost scrapped!" the falcon Maximal replied.

"Not Tigatron, then. That's not his style." Rhinox suggested.

"No. He'll defend himself, but total destruction is against everything he believes in." Primal added.

"He is a fool, then." Dinobot replied. (Wheeljack: No one's asked you, Dinobrain.)

"Eh when it comes to preds, I gotta agree with ya... Especially certain ones..." Rattrap gestured to Dinobot, garnering him more threats from the ex-Predacon.

Sideswipe and Jazz snickered.

Cheetor eventually stepped up the table between both Rattrap and Dinobot, announcing...

"Whoa, heads up, fellow bots! Movement at Preds Central! Blackarachnia and Scorponok are headed out, they're not wasting time!"

"What ya know? He's almost like you, Bee!"

"I. Get. That. Sideswipe."

"Course he does. He's quite an energetic fellow." Knockout commented.

"Airazor, can you follow them? Without them seeing you?" Optimus asked.

"Easily. Beast Mode." Airazor flew out of the Axalon.

"Man, somethin's got Megatron's scaly tail in a wringer." Rattrap wondered.

"Hey, maybe it's Tigatron! Maybe he's still alive!" Cheetor suggested.

Tigatron climbed into the rocks, and while he slipped, he managed to climb up to the island, where in view, he found a relatively peaceful land.

"Quite like where the humans take their times off things, are they?" Sideswipe asked.

"That, and some more, Sideswipe." Knockout asked. His experience in Earth proved it.

"Man, if only I was human..." Jazz wondered.

"We can only hope. But if the Predacons reach him first... He may not survive much longer."

In Beast Mode, Tigatron takes his time to wander around the land.

"Truly this is a land of wonder. Here in the frozen north. This tiny, tropical ecosystem somehow exists. Yet it is hidden. And protected!"

But when he walks into a rock with a strange symbol, the ground shakes around him, circling him with protrusions of metal wires latched with rocks. He dodges as they attempt to crush him.

"Seems the island doesn't take kindly to strangers walking around it." Wheeljack said.

"Or he triggered one of the island's security systems without knowing." Ultra Magnus replied.

"It seems the aliens that made those had disguised the island on the Earth's ecological systems to mask it as peaceful." Perceptor surmised.

"Tigatron, maximize." He transforms and tries to run to avoid the rocks. Armed, he blasted away the rocks attempting to kill him.

From afar, the tower's monolithic top began to glow and fire at Tigatron, but he manages to stray off the path of that laser and took cover.

"It would seem that energy weapons are not welcome in this peaceful land." he surmised.

"The tower's systems must have been programmed to terminate armed intruders that dare fire their weapons on it's territory." Shockwave deduced.

"Your highness, should we-"

"No Skylynx, we will not. That island would not tolerate violence and destruction, it seems." Predaking said to his subordinate.

"The aliens must have made it so, Predaking."

"I care not who made it, Prime. Just only what the island is capable of."

"So be it. Beast mode." He transforms "Let me be a visitor, not an invader."

"Sounds like you, Optimus." Megatron jabbed. "Always the peaceful visitor, you were."

"There it is." On the north, both Blackarachnia and Scorponok looked to the cloud. "Waspinator and Terrorsaur are not exactly the brightest witnesses, but the description fits. Flying island must be inside."

"I'll check." Scorponok transformed. "Cyber-bee launch." and deploys said device at the cloud, where it flies through the mist.

"On-visual."

Connected via visual, the cyber-bee reveals the entirety of the island. Only to be jumped and mauled by Tigatron moments after. Much to Scorponok's fright as he disconnected from the cyber bee.

"Hehehe, tiger boy got the bug scared on his wits." Jazz commented.

Blackarachnia turned to Scorponok and asked...

"What's with you, shell head? Is it there? The cyber-bee?"

"Yeah, so is Tigatron."

"So... the pussy-cat's still alive, is he? We'll take care of that. Blackarachnia, terrorize!"

She transforms as well and fires her wire at the cloud. There, Airazor observes.

"What's this? Blackarachnia tries to lasso a cloud? More surprisingly, she seems to have succeeded. Lets check this out." then flies to follow. Scorponok, who's latched to Blackarachnia, spots her and prepares his missiles.

Back at the island, Tigatron stepped at the wounded cyber-bee.

"One of Scorponok's spying cyber-bees... This land of peace may not be peaceful much longer. Still, it may be useful." He pulls back when the cyber-bee shorted out due to it's wires inadvertently pulled out from it's body. He hears a falcon's screech on the sky.

Through the mist, while Blackarachnia got up, Scorponok, on the other hand, fired a missile, striking Airazor out of flight.

"Yes!"

"Airazor!" Tigatron saw her falling from the sky.

"Clever. Taking out a potential tail." Onslaught surmised. "Just to prevent another report."

The tower's systems powered up again and fired at Scorponok and Blackarachnia, but by some degree of luck, they dodged out of the way.

"That's a real blaster! Noticed that, did you..."

"Well, in case you didn't notice, it is activated by our own weapons." Blackarachnia spoke with a sense of irony.

"I must... I mean..." 

"WE must take control of it, but carefully." Blackarachnia corrected.

Arcee narrowed her eyes, something about her didn't feel right.

Meanwhile...

"Airazor..."

Although injured, she opened her eyes to see Tigatron.

"Lie still. You've been hit."

Airazor groaned.

"Your beast form will make repairs, but it will take time. he assured.

Rachet and Knockout wondered...

"Optimus... perhaps it would be wise for us all to have self-repair systems that can last indefinitely. That way, it wouldn't require me to heal the injured unless severe."

".... That can work, Ratchet. You and Knockout will have to perform research on a self-repair system."

"Lord Megatron?"

"Perhaps