It broke over Axalon almost suddenly, leaving a new day in it's
wake.

 Tigatron arose from his recharge bed. He didn't like staying in
the Axalon overnight, but Snowstalker insisted, especially because
that was where her friends were. Tigatron stretched out and looked
over to Snowstalker, still recharging beside him.

 "Time to get up dear, a new day has arrived," Tigatron spoke,
petting Snowstalker's head and giving her a kiss.

 Snowstalker only twisted in her sleep.

 "Snowstalker, it's time to wake up," Tigatron said more
straightly, a smile across his face thinking this was a game.

 Tigatron kissed Snowstalker again, and she only twitched again.
Tigatron got up and shook her.

 Still nothing.

 Tigatron felt her head to make sure she was okay. As he placed
his arm to her forehead, he could feel intense heat emanating.

 "Snowstalker..." Tigatron gasped.

 Tigatron grabbed Snowstalker, and held her body. Tigatron then
ran from the room and hurried to Rhinox's lab.

 At that instant, Snowblaze, Slasher Red, and Dinobot were
awakening from their quarters to see Tigatron speed by with
Snowstalker.

 "Hey watch it!" Snowblaze called out as she was nearly hit by the
running Maximal.

 Slasher Red gasped, "He was carrying Snowstalker, and she
looks....DEAD!"

 The three Maximals took off after Tigatron, and found him in
Rhinox's lab, where Rhinox was hooking Snowstalker up to some
equipment and Optimus Primal was monitoring.

 "Tigatron, what happened?" Slasher Red spoke with concern.

 Tigatron dawned a sad look and replied, "I do not know Slasher
Red, but Snowstalker simply won't wake up!"

 Snowblaze crowded around Snowstalker and Rhinox, concerned for
her friend.

 "Will she be alright?" asked Optimus Primal to Rhinox.

 Rhinox only shrugged, "All her power levels and signatures are
normal, but yet, her body temperature and alertness levels have
spiked. If she is so alert, I can't imagine why she has not awoken
yet."

 "Maybe she slipped into hibernation..." Dinobot smiled at his own
joke.

 Slasher Red elbowed him and gave him a mean look, which caused
Dinobot to lose his joking attitude.

 Rhinox hooked her up to some more systems, "I may need awhile to
correspond with an answer. The best everyone can do is just wait for
an answer."

 All the other Maximals leave the room, except for Tigatron, who
stays by Snowstalker's side.

 "Primus....please help her..." prayed Tigatron desperately as
Snowstalker's vital signs began to blip across a monitor.
 

 Megatron escorts Pteryxia to the Command Center. He finds the new
femme very attractive for some reason. The two keep silent to one
another, although they glance at each other from time to time. They
soon arrive to the Command Center, and take Hover platforms to
Megatron's throne.

 Megatron sits himself down on his throne with a sigh, "Ah, so
Pteryxia, how do you like the Predacon base?"

 "It's horrid," Pteryxia smiles, "I love it...."

 Megatron chuckles to himself as both Scorponok and Inferno
approach.

 "Megatron," Scorponok reported, "All radar scans are clear. No
Maximals within base range."

 "Excellent, yess..." Megatron gleamed over to Pteryxia, who
smiled.

 "Pteryxia," Megatron began, "you are quite an interesting
Predacon, how would you like to rise in the chain on command?"

 Pteryxia put her hands to her hips, "Rise huh? Like to what
position?"

 Megatron smiled and shoved Scorponok off his hover platform.
Scorponok screamed as he fell into the molten lava below and burned
away.

 "I'd say...second-in-command!" Megatron laughed.

 Pteryxia laughed as well as she stepped on Scorponok's platform, and
shoves her former one off.

 Inferno rubbed his chin as Pteryxia stared into Megatron's eyes,
"Royalty, you have the most remarkable policies for everything!"

 "I do, don't I?" Megatron grinned, "Go see if Scorponok is
retrievable, and tell him of his.....demotion..."

 In the Axalon command center, Rattrap punched up a holographic
projector map of the planet on the main conference table. Seated there
were Optimus Primal, Prowl, and Polar Claw.

 Optimus Primal arose form his chair as the hologram appeared, and
placed a pointer on a position of the map.

 "Okay crew, listen up. The Predacons have been up to some tricks
again, and with the addition to Pteryxia to their forces, I'm afraid
we are in grave danger. I've sent multiple spies to the Darkside,
Tengu sector, and Charl sector to monitor the situation," Primal
spoke.

 "Rattrap...?" Primal asked.

 Rattrap nodded and pressed a few buttons. The lighting in the
room dimmed as three images appeared on the table. The first consisted
of Armordillo, in beast mode, outside the Predacon base in hiding. The
second, included Cheetor looking over a high cliff. The third showed
Airazor, soaring through the clouds.

 "Airazor, Armordillo, and Cheetor have been sent to monitor all
Predacon active areas, they will alert us if any problems are in
order." Primal informed.

 "Sir?" asked Prowl, "What about us?"

 Primal stood straight, "Prowl, you and Polar Claw will monitor
the area for any calls from our patrollers. The rest of us have
business to attend to."

 "Understood sir!" Prowl saluted.

 With that, the hologram disappeared and the lights flickered back on.
Rattrap and Optimus got up and moved down the hallway as Polar Claw
and Prowl took their places in the command center.

 "Exciting, eh?" Polar Claw asked with a smirk.

 "Let's hope so!" Prowl logically spoke.

 Megatron and Pteryxia, both on hover platforms, hovered over to
the central command station. There, Blackarachnia was pressing
numerous buttons as images flashed by on the main computer screen.

 "Blackarachnia, what is it?" asked Megatron.

 Blackarachnia turned and pointed to the monitor, "We've detected
three Maximal patrollers in the area. Possible spies. One of them's
right outside the base."

 Megatron sneered, "Bah. I don't have time to deal with Maximals.
Dispatch the fliers after the outside trooper. The other two are of no
interest to me."

 "Yes Megatron," Blackarachnia spoke, in her usual cold tone.

 "You don't want me to go hunt them down?" Pteryxia whispered to
Megatron.

 "No. I've got other things for you my darling, yes...." Megatron
smirked.

 Pteryxia smiled, optics flickering.

 Outside the Darkside, a small orange creature crept. It reached
the outer hull of the ship, and stopped.

 "Armordillo, Maximize..." Armordillo whispered, transforming to
robot mode in one swift motion.

 Armordillo leaned his back to the ship's hull, and opened his
side arm, to reveal a laser cutter. Armordillo turned and pressed a
button on it's side, causing it to whir to life. Armordillo placed the
laser to the hull and began to create a small whole in the ship, big
enough for an armadillo to pass through.

 As he did his work, Armordillo smiled, "I don't know about
Rattrap, Cheetor, or Tigatron, but this way of infiltration suits me
just fine..."

 Just then, Armordillo thought he saw a shadow on the ground. He
glared over to see it, flapping it's...wings? Armordillo looked up
from his cutting. Armordillo's optics almost bulged out of their
optics.

 "Uh oh....." Armordillo muttered.

 Suddenly, a pterodactyl swooped down from the sky, charging for
Armordillo. Armor' rolled out of the way as a wasp and yellow jacket
followed the pterodactyl's stunts. Armordillo rolled out of their path
too, and thought he was safe, until a blast struck him on his back.
Armordillo turned to see a black bat flap out from behind the base.

 The bat laughed, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Predacons....TERRORIZE!"

 In one swift moment, the black bat transformed into Onyx Primal.
Armor' turned to see the other attackers transform into Buzz Saw,
Waspinator, and Terrorsaur.

 "Looks like a Maximal went astray from the pack!" Terrorsaur
laughed.

 "Buzz Zaw frown at Maximalz zense of direction." Buzz Saw tsk
tsked.

 "Wazzzpinator not care about direction, just glad Wazzzpinator
has someone to deztroy!" Waspinator buzzed in.

 Armordillo gulped.
 

 Airazor, perched on a tree branch looked up into the noon sky.

 "Ah, the sun shines so magnificently today." Airazor whispered,
taking in the sunlight.

 Suddenly, Airazor heard some type of screech. She looked up into the
sky to see something falling, with smoke pouring out of it.

 "A...a stasis pod?" Airazor asked as she saw it, "Axalon hasn't
alerted me about it, but I should check it out."

 With that, Airazor lifted into the air, and with one well placed
flap, she zoomed across the sky.
 

 Cheetor lifted up the man lift to the Axalon in his cheetah mode. As
the lift came to a complete stop, Cheetor maximized and walked into
the command center.

 "So fellow heroes, what's up?" asked Cheetor, striding into the
area.

 In the command center, Prowl, Rattrap, and Polar Claw were
monitoring the two patrollers still out.

 "Not good," Prowl sighed, "Airazor's leaving her patrol area, and
Armordillo is under assault."

 "Whoa, better go help the little dude out!" Cheetor exclaimed.

 Cheetor flipped backwards unto the man lift, and had converted to his
beast mode as he went.

 "Hey! Wait up kid!" Rattrap cried, grabbing his hand gun and
jumping onto the lift.

 The lift then descended to the ground.

 In a bright explosion, Armordillo was thrown across the
landscape. He got up and dusted himself off as both Waspinator and
Buzz Saw came diving around for another blast.

 In one swift movement, Armordillo grabbed his Morning Star and
laser. He then waited. He had to make this one count.

 "Buzz Zaw think Maximal acting stupid again..." Buzz Saw muttered to
himself.

 Then, as Buzz Saw and Waspinator came right next to Armordillo,
Armordillo leapt into the sky. In a nice spin, Armordillo knocked his
Morning Star right into Waspinator, who fell to the ground as pieces
of his body shattered. Then, before Buzz Saw could even worry,
Armordillo zapped him a few dozen times with his laser. Buzz Saw
exploded into debris and fell to the ground.

 "Buzz Zaw!"the weak Waspinator cried.
 

 As Terrorsaur and Onyx Primal swooped down for their attacks,
Waspinator flew over to thee remains of Buzz Saw with his one good
wing.

 "Buzz Zaw?" Waspinator asked, holding Buzz Saw's head.

  Buzz Saw's optics flickered backed on and looked around.

 "Fine, let Buzz Zaw be the one that gets kazooty knocked out of
him." complained Buzz Saw.

 "Wazzzpinator take friend Buzz Zaw to CR tank. Make better?"
Waspinator asked.

 "Buzz Zaw feel better when repaired. Buzz Zaw would like it if
Wazzzpinator took him to CR tank." Buzz Saw buzzed.

 With that, Waspinator scoured around for Buzz Saw's pieces. Once they
were all collected, Waspinator flew back into the Darkside. Terrorsaur
turned to see Waspinator leave.

 "Where....where are you going, you coward?!" Terrorsaur cried
after him, but got no response.

 "It is no matter, the absence of the juvenile delinquencies means
nothing to this battles outcome!" Onyx Primal smiled, arching back his
swords.

 Armordillo saw the black and white Predacon flier coming and
fired his laser to no avail. Onyx Primal swooped down, and with both
swords in hand, sliced off Armordillo's right arm. Armordillo screamed
in pain as his right arm and laser fell to the ground, mech fluid
squirting after from Armordillo's open wound. Armordillo tried to heft
himself up, but Terrorsaur fired a round of laser blasts into him.
Mini explosions abound came from Armordillo, as pieces of armor and
limbs went flying.

 "Breep. Warning: Life support systems offline. Body beyond
repair. Stasis lock imminent." Armordillo's computer beeped.

 "No...override!" Armordillo weakly gasped, as Terrorsaur and Onyx
Primal began their decent down to the orange robot again.

 "Warning: Failure to do so will result in permanent loss of
spark." the computer spoke.

 "Must....override," Armordillo began, as a natural energon surge
swept over him.

 "No..." Armordillo gasped as the surge came over him.

 Just then, Onyx Primal and Terrorsaur stopped in their tracks as the
energon surge swept over them.

 "Eh?" Onyx Primal asked, looking at his sparking body.

 "An energon surge...ugh...must transform!" Terrorsaur declared,
reverting to beast mode.

 Onyx Primal followed and stared down at Armordillo's limp,
destroyed, and surging body.

 "Heh. Landkill. Mission Accomplished, return to base!" Onyx
Primal spoke, as he swooped back into the Darkside's entry hatch,
Terrorsaur closely following.

 As they left, Cheetor jumped out from a ledge, maximizing as he
descended to the ground.

 "Hope I didn't come too.....no!" Cheetor cried, as he saw
Armordillo's optics flicker.

 And then died.

 Snowstalker arose from Rhinox's medi-slab to see Rhinox,
Tigatron, and Snowblaze gathered around. Snowstalker looked over the
equipment attached to her, and proceeded to pull it off.

 "Hey guys...what happened?" asked Snowstalker.

 "You...wouldn't wake up, and you had a fever." Tigatron spoke.

 "Oh, is that all?" Snowstalker giggled, "No cold can keep
Snowstalker down!"

 "Indeed!" Rhinox smiled.

 "Cold....?" asked Snowblaze and Tigatron.

 Rhinox smiled, "Snowstalker caught some type of sickness virus.
It sort of only infects organic life forms. It infected Snowstalker
because she must have caught it when she was still a normal Siberian
tiger a whole year ago. Apparently, it remained dormant in her until
recently. Nothing to worry about, her robotic life systems shut her
offline and terminated the virus."

 "That simple huh?" Snowblaze asked, arms akimbo with a smirk on
her face.

 Tigatron came up to Snowstalker and gave her a hug, "I was so
worried about you."

 "Hey, nothing to worry about Stripes." Snowstalker spoke in his
audio receptors softly.

 Both Snowblaze and Rhinox smiled, and left the two alone to
pursue other activities.
 

 Meanwhile, in space, an inconceivable space craft hovered over
the planet. Inside, the ship was dark, and only voices could be heard.
Alien like at first, but then shifted.

 "Orbit successful..."

 "Project has been contaminated, termination will commence soon."

 "Hosts that have contaminated may be worthwhile."

 "Capture and study subjects then terminate."

 "Cybertrons, that's what they are."

 "Energon deposits minimized. Island sanctuary and Standing Stones
terminated.

 In a brilliant blast from space, the standing stones were
destroyed, leaving behind nothing but wreckage.

 "Operation Termination: Commencing."

 "Test pod has found subject, commencing process."

 Airazor maximized to robot mode, having found the æpod' she saw. She
was wrong, it wasn't a pod. It was something...alien like.

 "Oh boy, better radio the others..." Airazor began, when
suddenly, the podlike structure opened it's lid, and unleashed an
energy which vaporized Airazor and sucked in her spark.

 Almost in an instant, the craft lifted from the ground and flew
back to it's shuttle craft.

 "Phase One: Complete."