“Did Scorponok just…fire on his own allies?!” asked Optimus.
“We could all see it!” remarked Grimlock.
“Is the Decepticon Empire really as stable as Megatron bragged?” asked Tails.
“It looks like Scorponok’s beamed down all the Headmasters, including Zarak and Black Scar,” reported Jazz.
“Hold on, we’re tracking their movements?!” asked Slash. “Why aren’t their internal ship cloaks online?!” Prowl was shaking his head.
“None of this makes a lick of sense!” he muttered. “He’s got us all in the crosshairs, but Scorponok’s more focused on Nebulos!”
“A communication’s channel coming from him is still open,” remarked Sparkplug. “Perhaps we can get an answer from him.”
“Hold on,” interjected Shadow, “are you suggesting we just call Scorponok and ask him what his game is?!”
“…It’s a shot in the dark, but it’s worth taking,” declared Optimus. Sonic then appeared on Tails’ part of the screen.
“Hey, has anyone seen Amy?” he asked.
“Isn’t she on the Blue Typhoon?” asked Optimus.
“No, I thought she went over to either the Ark or the Fang.”
“Well, she ain’t on my ship,” answered Grimlock. Yoketron then came onto the Ark’s bridge.
“Everyone, I can’t find Trema, Sira, or Natalie,” he reported.
“What’s going on here?!” demanded Optimus. “Teletraan, find Amy, Sira, Natalie, and Trema!”
“Searching…and…oh, for Primus’ sake!” groaned Teletraan.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re on Nebulos! They’re meeting with Llyra and the Autobot Headmasters and are gonna face the ‘Novacons’ or whatever the Pit they call themselves now!”
“What?! Get them back!”
“Hold up…no, I don’t think we should.”
“WHAT?!” This question was repeated by everyone.
“It looks like they’re all about to prove that Hi-Q was being stupid with his bomb,” chuckled Teletraan. “He, Kari, and two other scientists are with them.”
The Novacons trudged through the forest with their Headmaster partners riding on their backs. Zarak looked through the trees as he sat behind Black Scar’s beast mode eyes. “He’s around here somewhere,” he muttered.
“We know he’s at the center of the forest!” grunted Spasma as she held onto Apeface’s back. “Why are we at the edge?!”
“Because he might have moved,” replied Zarak.
“I don’t see why,” muttered Vorath as he sat between Mindwipe’s wings. “He’s not exactly expecting combat.”
“Quit yakking!” grunted Krunk as he and Snapdragon knocked a few trees down. “He’s got Galen with him and he’s smarter than he looks!” Weirdwolf then stopped and sniffed the air.
“What is it?” asked Monzo as he looked to his partner. “What do you smell?” Weirdwolf’s optics then went wide.
“The Autobot Headmasters!” he yelped.
“What?! Now?!” cried Grax as she and Skullcruncher looked around the area.
“From the north!” warned Weirdwolf. “And I’m getting new scents now! …It’s a quartet of Nebulans and…and the Mobian Visitors that aided in our downfall!”
“TREMA!” growled Zarak. “Prepare for battle!” Trema, Amy, Sira, Natalie, Llyra, Hi-Q, a young Nebulan man named Hi-Test, another Nebulan man named Rev, and Kari stepped out of the trees first. They were all wearing Nebulan Planetary Defense Force armor and had their guns ready.
“You were ordered to leave Nebulos on pain of death!” growled Llyra.
“That’s no way to address your old father!” replied Zarak.
“It’s the ONLY way to address disgraced traitors like you and your friends!”
“I’ve hear enough of that skak’s mouth!” snarled Grax. Spasma then slapped the back of her head.
“Watch the slurs!” she warned. “If men cannot call us that, we cannot call each other that!”
“That’s enough!” called Llyra. “By setting foot on Nebulos, you have signed your death warrants!”
“Nebulos is MINE to command!” growled Zarak.
“Sorry, Nebulos is closed to Decepticons and all related branches!” came a new voice. Five vehicles then entered the area with the Autobot Headmasters riding them. Galen leapt out from a short-range shuttle, Stylor stepped out of a super car, Arcana landed her fighter jet and stepped out of the cockpit, much to the jet’s annoyance, Duros parked his tank before stepping out of the cockpit, and Gort jumped out of his twin-rotored helicopter, leaving it to hover in the air.
“Galen!” snarled Zarak. “It’s been too long, my son-in-law!”
“Not there yet, believe it or not,” remarked Galen. “Now, I say again, get the hurg off my planet!”
“All my life, my power was limited!” retorted Zarak. “Now, thanks to Scorponok and Black Scar, I have no need for limits!” He turned to his team. “NOVACONS, TRANSFORM AND CONQUER!”
“I guess we’re doing this,” muttered Galen. He turned to Llyra and her team. “Give us some cover fire.” After they nodded, he turned to the Autobot Headmasters. “Boys and girls, it’s time to put ourselves through our paces! OMNIBOTS, TRANSFORM AND DEFEND!” Grax stuck both arms to her right, then rotated them to the left until the left arm held her fist up and the right held her fist sideways.
“Head on!” she called. Her partner then spoke.
“SKULLCRUNCHER, ANNIHILATE!” The tail split down the middle from the tip and attached to each side, then the backside folded out to reveal legs. The lower torso then rotated to face the audience. The head swung down to reveal the robot’s shoulders and robot hands came out as the front beast feet folded onto the wrists. Grax transformed into her head-mode, one with a yellow face and a red visor, and attached to the robot’s shoulders. Skullcruncher was complete as he roared to the heavens. Stylor started his team’s sequence. He held his left fist to his hip and moved his right hand forward slowly.
“Head on!” he announced.
“CHROMEDOME, CENTRALIZE!” called the car. The front of the car folded to the roof as the sides split away and sprouted hands. The rear then split and folded down while letting feet pop out. Stylor then transformed into his head mode (one with an orange face and a pair of white horns) and attached to the robot. Chromedome was complete. Vorath was next. He swung both arms to his right side, then rotated them to his left, then pulled his right hand back before putting it back to its original position while his left hand went to his hip.
“Head on!” he announced. Mindwipe readied himself and Vorath changed into a head with a visor and a Fu Manchu moustache.
“MINDWIPE, ANNIHILATE!” shrieked the bat. The tail swung towards the front as the rear of the bat swung down to make legs. The areas where the wings were attached swung 180⁰ and unfolded arms with the hands popping out. The bat head swung down to allow Vorath’s head mode to attach to the shoulders. The rear of the bat was now the front of the robot. Mindwipe was now complete as he gave a screech. Arcana began her transformation sequence as she stuck out her right pointer and middle finger, then tapped them against her fist as if they were a tuning fork, and then held the right hand near her face.
“Head on!” she called.
“BRAINSTORM, CENTRALIZE!” called her jet. The underside of the jet folded towards the rear and the assembly rotated as the wings turned to the opposite direction and their sides split away from the fuselage as it folded down to become a torso. Hands then sprouted from the wing sides and Arcana transformed to her head mode, one with a yellow face and a white helmet, and attached to the robot. Brainstorm then gave a cocky smirk as he made a finger gun and pointed it at the Novacons. Monzo stuck his right arm to the side and his left arm pointed towards the right. He then rotated his arms, so they were sticking out to the left.
“HEAD ON!” he called as he pulled an imaginary rip cord on his left arm with his right. He transformed into a head with a red visor and a red face. Weirdwolf howled as he prepared to transform.
“WEIRDWOLF, ANNIHILATE!” The tail detached from the rump as it went up to allow the rear paws to fold into the legs. The legs then folded up and straightened to make robot legs. The front paws folded back to reveal humanoid arms as the wolf head folded back to allow Monzo to attach to his shoulders. Weirdwolf howled like a wolf when he was complete. Duros then moved his right hand near his shoulder, then moved it down to his left hip in a diagonal manner while his left hand ran parallel to reach his right shoulder.
“Head on!” he declared.
“HARDHEAD, CENTRALIZE!” The rear of Duros’ tank then tilted down and split with hands sprouting from the tread assemblies as the front of the tank split and unfolded into legs, making the cockpit the torso with the gun barrel resting on the right shoulder. Duros transformed into the robot’s head, a yellow face with a gray-brown helmet, and set himself between the shoulders. Hardhead then whipped out a gun and leveled it at the Novacons. Spasma was next as she placed her right elbow on her left wrist and moved the arm configuration across her chest, then she placed her wrists together with one hand on top of the other and pushed outwards.
“Head on!” she roared as she rotated her hands. She jumped up and turned into a head as Apeface roared and pounded his chest.
“APEFACE, ANNIHILATE!” he shouted. His gorilla arms swung backwards, and the forearms and hands folded upwards. The sides of the gorilla’s chest swung up and extended to become legs. The turbines he was wearing extended to reveal arms and the gorilla legs swung up to become shoulders. Spasma’s head-mode connected to the shoulders, completing Apeface’s robot mode as he pounded his chest, roaring. Gort was next as he rotated his arms so his left hand was above his right shoulder and his right hand was pointing down, resting below the left hand near his hip.
“Head on!” he called.
“HIGHBROW, CENTRALIZE!” called the helicopter. The front of the vehicle split and unfolded into legs and feet while the rotor assemblies rotated backwards and unfolded to become arms. The rear of the helicopter then folded to the underside (now the back of the robot) and Gort transformed into his head mode (one with a white face and a dark-brown helmet) and plugged into the space between the shoulders. Highbrow then twirled a gun in each hand before leveling it at the Novacons. Zarak put his left fist to his hip and thrust his right hand across his front in a diagonal fashion and slowly rotated it to his right side.
“HEAD…” he bellowed. He then pulled his right hand into a fist and put it to his hip and thrust his left arm across his front. “…ON!” Zarak then leapt into the air and transformed to his head mode
“BLACK SCAR, ANNIHILATE!” called Black Scar. The spider then changed in a fashion similar to Blackarachnia, but the mouth parts and pedipalps formed pincer-style claws. Zarak then attached to his torso. The visor flashed red and Black Scar snarled. Galen held his left hand to his left hip as his right hand was held past his left shoulder.
“Head on!” he called as he moved his right hand past his right shoulder.
“CEREBROS, CENTRALIZE!” called the shuttle. The transformation was like a Headmaster partner’s, just in reverse. Galen transformed into his head mode (standard Transformer silver face with a domed, purple-gray head) and connected to his partner. Cerebros then adopted a hand-to-hand combat stance.
“Covering fire now!” called Llyra. She and her team opened fire on the Novacons.
“NOVACONS!” bellowed Black Scar. “NO PRISONERS!”
“OMNIBOTS, DEFEND THE FOREST!” called Cerebros to his team. The fight then began!