(NOTE: All scenes in this chapter of the alien saga, as well as any others, that have JUST the aliens talking in them, are translated into English. They are actually speaking in their own language to each other.)

 “No! You can’t do this, Scourge! It’s not ri-mff, mffmffmfffff!”

 Nighteye was interrupted by Scarem covering her mouth with his hand.

 “On the contrary, Nighteye, it IS right,” Scourge retorted, shoving Nighteye into one of the Vexoran ship’s escape pods. Scourge, Nighteye, and Scarem were in the escape pod bay. No other Vexorans were in here at the time, as it was ‘nighttime’ to their race and there were a minimal number of guards around the ship. “For, if you told on our little scheme to destroy the Transformers, like you said you would, then our plan would be ruined, now wouldn’t it? I’m sorry, Nighteye, really I am, but if you can’t keep your mouth shut, then you must pay the consequences.”

 “N-no! I w-won’t tell! I promise!” Nighteye said, panic evident in his voice.

 Scourge chuckled. “Oh, quit that, Nighteye. We all know how much of a goody-goody you are when it comes to your relationship with Tarad. Computer, lock AB escape pod hatch. Voice code #-gdc^.”

 The pod bay’s computer complied,and the door to the pod clamped down with a hiss, separating Nighteye from Scarem and Scourge.

 “Why are you doing this?” Nighteye asked incredulously, his voice now muffled because of the barrier.

 “Because these Transformers need to be eradicated- at any cost. They must be wiped from the hourglass of time, before they crack it. Scarem, press the launch button. It’s on the control panel to your right- the green button.”

 “Are you sure we should be doing this, Brother?” Scarem asked hesitantly.

 “Of course! It’s for the good of the universe! Unless we eradicate these Transformers, they will continue to disrupt the time flow! And, the only way we can be sure our plan to destroy them will work is if Nighteye is not allowed to tell Captain Tarad about it! NOW, LAUNCH!”

 Scarem hesitated for another second, then pushed the launch button reluctantly. With a loud “whoosh,” the spherical escape pod was launched from the mother ship, moving toward Earth at an incredible speed. Within a minute, the pod entered Earth’s atmosphere and began to burn up on entry- along with Nighteye.

 Just as Scarem and Scourge were about to leave, however, they heard footsteps coming from a nearby hallway, heading toward the pod bay. Scarem tugged at Scourge’s shoulder hurriedly.

 “Come on, brother! We must leave now, we shouldn’t be here!”

 Scourge yanked his shoulder away from Scarem, narrowing his eyes at his younger brother.

 “No. It will not do us any good if whoever is coming here hears footsteps running away from him. We must stay here, so as not to arouse any suspicion.”

 Scarem didn’t know how they could not arouse suspicion by staying here, but he stood his ground anyway. After a few more seconds, the Vexoran turned out to be none other than their father, Prometheus.

 “Scarem, Scourge, what are you doing in the pod bay? I have been looking all around the ship for you two.”

 “We were merely...admiring the view,” Scourge said. It was a legitimate excuse. The pod bay had windows almost all around it, with the exceptions of the escape pod hatches and the entrance.

 “Why were you not up in the observation deck, then?”

 “It was crowded, Father. You know I do not get along with many Vexorans very well.”

 Prometheus shrugged. “Very well. I am sorry to interrupt you two, but Tarad needs you to round up the Transformers and take them to the main lab. We are ready to run some tests on some of them.”

 “Very well, Father.”

 Prometheus entered the examination room two hours later, and found that all the Transformers, with the exceptions of the experiments -Grimlock, Prowl, Sigma Prime, and Ironhide- had already been strapped to their examination tables in robot mode, and drugged with a substance that made them go into stasis lock, but without sustaining any damage.

 I see Scourge and Scarem did their job well. Something didn’t seem right in the pod bay earlier, though- I will have to check that out later.

 Prometheus walked over to the couple of Vexoran scientists that were busy hooking up several of the unconscious Beast Warriors to several machines.

 “What will we be doing with them while testing the technology?” Prometheus asked.

 “Unit Cheetor has been chosen as the test subject for our new Ultrametal technology. We will be monitoring Unit Waspinator as we introduce him to the Transmetal technology, and we will be testing the Transmetal 2 exo-suits on Units Megatron and Optimus Primal. Other experiment subjects have yet to be decided upon,” one of the scientists answered.

 “But what will they be doing while these experiments are being conducted? We already know, by the tests with Units Airazor and Terrorsaur, that if they are not doing something else with their mind while the experiments are being run, it results in temporary loss of movement.”

 “We have entered them each into their past. This way, they will not be having any random dreams or nightmares that will wake them up from their sleep.”

 “Interesting,” Prometheus noted, as he stared at the decapitated head of Scorponok, connected to several wires. “Carry on.”

 Depth Charge leaned his forehead against his hand as he slumped into his chair. Primus, these High Council meetings were boring. He just wanted to get back to Omicron- he was anxious to see how the Protoform X project was going.

 “Depth Charge?”

 The large Maximal was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice calling him- a voice that sounded remarkably like-

 “Depth Charge?”

 - one of the High Council members. Oh, slag. They wanted his input, and he hadn’t even been listening to the conversation!

 “What do you think on this subject? Depth Charge? Any ideas?”

 Depth Charge righted himself, acting as if he had been paying attention.

 “Um....no.”

 The High Council member stared at him oddly for a moment, then continued on talking to the other members about the subject. Depth Charge felt a sharp nudge in his stomach.

 “Oooo, in trouble for not listening again, eh, DC?”

 “Shut up, Cybersub.”

 Cybersub snickered for another moment in his seat next to Depth Charge’s, then quieted down.

 Later, after the meeting was over, Depth Charge walked out of the High Council chamber into the streets of Cybertron, along with his two friends and soldiers, Claw Clash and Cybersub.

 Depth Charge looked almost exactly like he would when he would crash-land on Earth about five years into the future- or rather, two million years in the past- but his manta ray tail on his back and his manta ray eyes on his chest weren’t part of him. He still had his “fins” on his back, however, but they, as well as him, weren’t transmetallized, and they looked more like a Cybertronian Starhopper’s wings instead of fins.

 Cybersub and Claw Clash, however, looked almost entirely different. Although Cybersub’s, who would later become Cybershark’s, face was almost the same, he didn’t have that enormous fin sticking out of his head. His shoulder pads were more rounded, and any Transmetal 2 qualities that he had when he became Cybershark weren’t a part of him now. His large claw-arm wasn’t a part of him yet, so he had two normal arms. Claw Clash, in the future Claw Jaw, barely had any resemblance to his future body- even his color scheme was different, being mostly black and white. He had a more bulky look to him, and instead of tentacles, he had metallic plates on his shoulders. His face looked about the same, but he had a mouth at this point in time.
 “Some meeting, huh, DC?” Cybersub asked his commander.

 “Yeah,” Depth Charge answered. “Another stupid council meeting about how to further our peace relations with the Predacons. Those Preds are just restockin’ their troops, this isn’t real peace. The High Council is too stupid to see that, however.”

 “Um, Commander,” Claw Clash asked, “Shouldn’t we be getting back to Omicron? I mean, you are security chief there.”

 “I don’t know,” Depth Charge yawned. “I’m kinda tired- ready to hit the sack. Let’s find a place to rest for the night, then we’ll fly home tomorrow and see how this new Protoform X project is going.”

 “Finally, you said something I agree with,” Cybersub mused, and the trio continued down the streets of Cybertron, trying to find a hotel or inn to spend the night in.

 A Maximal scientist scrambled out of the emergency exit, shutting the door behind him. He was badly beaten up, and mech fluid was dripping off his body. He ran out into one of the main streets nearby, as fast as his injured legs could carry him.

 “HELP!!!! PROTOFORM X IS ON THE LOOSE!” he cried, panicking. “RUN!” All the nearby Transformers on the street took one look at him, saw how damaged he was, and took off running themselves, screaming the message to more passerbys farther down the street. The scientist limped a few more feet, then collapsed, of a lack of energy.

 A few seconds later, a loud “smash” was heard, and a huge hand ripped open the emergency exit door the scientist has passed through less than a minute ago. A large, muscular robot stepped out into the alley, his face not having a mouth, but rather some rigid tendrils. As Protoform X saw the Maximal scientist, he laughed madly and stomped up to the prone form.

 “Hahahahahoooo! Hold me in chains, will you?!”

 Protoform X picked up the scientist in one massive hand, and held the Maximal close enough to his face to feel his hot breath rushing over the scientist’s face.

 “Ah, I smell your fear. It tastes sweet. Let your fear grow, scum. My prey tastes all the more delicious when it is afraid.”

 The Maximal screamed- and that was the last anyone ever heard of the scientist.

 “Hurry! Unlock the gate, you fool!”

 “I’m hurrying, Megatron! But this lock just won’t budge!”

 “Well, you’d better try harder, Scorponok, or we’ll all be executed!”

 Scorponok tinkered with the gate lock a bit more with his claw, then the lock fell off, and the gate opened.

 “There! Got it!”

 “Excellent, yes! Now, where is Dynamo?”

 “Right there, Megatron!”

 Megatron turned his head and looked back toward the jail they had escaped from, seeing that Dynamo had his hands-or rather, eye lasers- busy with about five guards that had tried to stop the criminal trio.

 “Dynamo! Get your skid plate over here! Scorponok has unlocked the gate!” Megatron bellowed.

 “Coming, Master!” Dynamo yelled back sarcastically, taking out a few more guards on the way out.

 Megatron growled, but followed Scorponok and Dynamo out, adding a few blasts of his own to keep the jail guards at bay. It had not been easy breaking out of this jail, and they weren’t about to be arrested again this late into the escapade, no.

 “Are they gone?”

 Scorponok peeked out the window, and searched the road outside.

 “Yep.”

 Megatron let out a whoosh of relief. They had lost the guards a little while back, and had hidden in this abandoned building. Now, he could start planning- for stealing the Golden Disk. He had been caught the last time he had tried to steal it, but now he would not be so careless- no.

 Scorponok clicked his claws nervously as he transformed to his beast mode. Unlike most of the other future Beast Warriors, Scorponok had always had his scorpion beast mode- however, it looked much more robotic and jagged. In fact, he looked surprisingly like the old Decepticon Scorponok, except he was much smaller.

 Dynamo, on the other hand, looked very different before he had gotten his velociraptor beast mode. Although he still had the dominant features on his face, such as the long nose and chin, his body was a different color scheme entirely- mostly green and blue, with a bit of transparent glass on his chest. His vehicle mode, which was what he was in now, was also entirely different as well- it was a mixture of a tank and a missle launcher. While it had the treads and main body of a tank, it had a rotating missle platform instead of a rotating turret on top.

 Megatron transformed into his vehicle mode as well as he contemplated what he would do next. He converted into a purple-and-black tank, one of the classic types with a revolving turret.

 If life was a cartoon, a light bulb would have lit up over Megatron’s head right now. “What we need is more troops if we’re going to be successful at this heist this time,” Megatron contemplated. “No doubt the elders would have pumped up security at the national archives since we were last there.”

 “But where will we get any, Megatron?” asked Scorponok, nervous as always.

 Megatron smiled devilishly- that is, if he would have if he could of smiled in his tank mode. “I think I know just the place...”

 “Hurry up, Terminator!You want those cops to catch us or not?!” yelled a red-and-silver jet to its partner, a yellow helicopter, lagging slightly behind.

 “Terrrminator going as fast as he can! Plane-bot not need to pop energon vessel!”

 “It’s Terrortron for the last time, you idiot, and you better believe those cops are going to do a lot more than pop our energon vessels if they catch us red-handed with 5,000 stolen credits! Now, keep moving! I think they’re gaining on us!”

 Terrortron glanced back to see that the Cybertropolis Police were indeed getting closer.

 “Pick up speed, NOW!” Terrortron yelled, speeding up and taking as sharp of a left turn as he could manage with a sack of stolen credits dangling from one of his wings. Terminator quickly followed.

 After several more twists and turns down some of the narrow alleys of Cybertron, Terminator began to get nervous.

 “Um.. Plane-bot?”

 “WHAT!?” Terrortron screamed impatiently, turning his head back to glare at Terminator.

 “We going to crash sooner or later! Alleys too narrow and turns too sharp for Terrrminator!”

 “Don’t be ridiculous! I know what I’m do-“

 Terrortron’s reply was cut short as he crashed into the side of a building. Terminator, not being able to react in time, followed Terrortron’s example. Both plummeted to the ground in flames, leaving quite a large hole in the side of the building they had crashed into.

 “Are we there yet?”

 “No.”

 “Are we there yet?”

 “No!”

 “Are we-“

 “SHUT UP, CYBERSUB! Just a few more seconds and we’ll be within communications range of Omicron!”

 “Aw, geez, DC, I was only kiddin’ ya,” the flying submarine replied, as he, Depth Charge, and Claw Clash, all in their vehicular modes, sped through space toward the Transformer colony Omicron.

 Depth Charge transformed from his Cybertronian Starhopper mode. Claw Clash followed suit, and transformed from his space shuttle mode. Cybersub stayed in his vehicle mode.

 “Omicron communications tower, come in, this is Air Commander Depth Charge. We’re coming in for a landing in a few clicks, over?” the Maximal commander said through his comlink.

 Depth Charge waited.

 And waited.

 There was no reply.

 “Omicron communications tower, this is Depth Charge! Do you copy, over!?” the commander repeated, fear a little evident in his voice.

 There was still no response.

 “Cybersub, Claw Clash, full speed ahead! Something’s happened on Omicron!” Depth Charge said quickly, transforming to vehicle mode again and zooming at full speed toward Omicron. Claw Clash and Cybersub quickly followed suit.

 Cybertronian Police Chief Redblare sighed as she threw the two charred Predacons into their cell and slammed the cell door shut.

 “Good work, fellas, you set a new record,” Redblare said to the two new jail occupants. “Only three megacycles out of the slammer and you’re already back in it. Don’t you ever learn?”

 “It...wasn’t our fault...,” the charred heap named Terrortron replied. “Someone...*cough * .... framed us...”

 “In the words of the legendary Optimus Prime, ‘Yeah, right’. Get some rest, fellas. You’re going to need it for your trial in fifteen megacycles.”

 Redblare slammed the iron door shut behind her, leaving the two injured Predacons in blissful silence.

 “No...,” was all Depth Charge could whisper as he saw the ruined state the small colony Omicron was in. Fires were rampant, transformer bodies littered the road, and small pieces of buildings were strewn around the streets, most of them charred- evidence of an earlier firefight.

 “How?” asked Cybersub in bewilderment, gazing in a fearful awe at all the destruction laid before him. “I mean, this was just a small scientist colony- no real strategic value, so it isn’t as though some of the Pred rebels would raid it.”

 “Guys! Look, over there!” Claw Clash exclaimed, pointing to a flicker of movement a few streets down.

 The trio of transformers quickly ran down to the location where Claw Clash had spotted something, but there was nothing there anymore.

 “Hmph... maybe it was just a trick of the light-“

 Claw Clash was interrupted as a missle hit his back, putting him into stasis lock before he even hit the ground.

 “Hahahahahooooo!”

 Depth Charge and Cybersub turned to the source of the laugh to find a large, muscular robot standing there, a triple-barrel missle launcher in his hand, one of the holes in it still smoking. He had a large band with an X on it around his right wrist, to help identify him.

 “Protoform X,” muttered Depth Charge, his voice so cold it could freeze Char.

To be continued....

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