After a long run through the savanna with smatterings of greenery, past some grazing herbivores, and over a trickling river, the young Maximals arrived at some rocky terrain in the heart of Grid Epsilon.

"You have arrived at your destination. We hope you've enjoyed your journey with the Golden Rocket Express. Please watch your step while disembarking," the cheetah said jokingly.

Softpaw tried to contain her laughter as she replied, "Silly cat, we're on a mission, remember? Save the jokes for later." The bunny slid off his back and crept up to a large boulder, scanning for any Predacon signatures.

"Anything on your scanner SP?" Cheetor asked quietly.

She shook her head. "I can't detect any Predacons in the vicinity. I think we're in the clear, but still, be extra careful and keep your scanners on high res. We don't want to be blindsided."

"Read ya loud and clear, Hops."

The bunny nodded, hopped out from their cover and Maximised, with Cheetor following suit. They began an investigation of the immediate area, splitting up to cover more ground, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

Several minutes passed. "You'd think we'd have found something by now," moaned Cheetor as his equipment remained disappointingly silent; no satisfying beeps at all.

Softpaw continued her search around the corner of a large rock face. "We have to keep looking. It could be nothing. But it could also be something dangerous the Predacons could use against us. They'd win the Beast Wars and this planet would be doomed."

"Well, aren't you a bucket of positivity?" he retorted with a smirk. "Lighten up, Cotton Tail. Besides, it looks like there's nothing here to be found."

BANG!

The two were thrown off their feet as a missile struck the ground a few feet away. They landed on their backs, grunting in pain.

"I thought you said there weren't any Preds around!" Cheetor snarled as he frantically looked around for their attacker.

"There weren't!" she replied loudly and indignantly, her audio processors ringing. "I don't know why their signals weren't picked up by my sensors!"

"Nor mine." A few loose rocks rained on Cheetor's head. "We don't exactly have time to speculate about it now. Defensive positions, now!"

Both Maximals pulled out their blasters, looking around to locate the Predacons. They soon spotted them in the sky just above them: Waspinator and Inferno.

"Ant bot has lousy aim. Missssed Maximals," Waspinator pointed out.

"I shall not miss again. For the Royalty!" He began a barrage of fire to herd them closer to the rock face where they would be pinned. Waspinator joined him, and a heated battle commenced.

~*~

Nearby, Tarantulas had watched everything unfold from afar. When the Maximals had arrived, he decided he would let them do the scanning for him. Then Megatron's pests arrived before they found anything conclusive. However, he would take this opportunity, with both sides occupied, to continue the scan himself. It would appear your cronies were of use after all, Megatron. He chuckled to himself as he opened a com link to the insects, "Good work engaging the Maximals. I will detect the source of the signature for our great and glorious leader. You pesky fliers must ensure the Maximals stay distracted."

Waspinator took exception to this. "Who died and made sssspider bot king?"

WHACK!

Cheetor, who had climbed up a boulder and leapt off it, surprised Waspinator when his fist collided with the side of the Predacon's face, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Tarantulas laughed to himself and scurried away from the battle, unnoticed.

He soon came across a crack in the rock face. He paused and stared at it for a few seconds. Soon, his personal computer informed him, "Coordinates confirmed."

Tarantulas gleefully rubbed his pedipalps together. "Now this is more like it." He transformed and pulled out a specialised data pad. With his claws he effortlessly input an activation sequence for a small spider drone that he took out of his subspace. It crawled into the base of the crack with some difficulty, but managed to wriggle through. Tarantulas looked at his wrist console. "Any minute now. I must hurry..."

~*~

Meanwhile, the two Maximals were dodging missiles and blaster fire from the Predacon insects.

"I think it's time to call base!" Softpaw exclaimed, while dodging the Predacons' attacks as best as she could. She fired back at them with her blaster, some shots missing thanks to their enemies' irritating maneuverability in flight.

The cheetah fired a few shots before realising there was a missile heading straight for him. He quickly leapt out of the way dodging just in time, but ended up bumping into Softpaw. Both Maximals ended up on the ground, groaning from the impact. They managed to get themselves up as quickly as possible.

"I take it there are no objections?" Softpaw glared at him, her irritation quite clear. Cheetor shook his head, and they were met with more blaster fire raining down on them. Once again, they dodged and returned fire.

"Wassspinator will enjoy destroying puny Maximalsss," Waspinatoir sang with glee.

Inferno cackled maniacally in concurrence. "Our Queen will be pleased, once we triumph!"

The battle continued, both sides managing to land some hits. Soon, their armour plating was looking as scorched and burned as the land they were fighting on.

"Still think we can handle this?" Softpaw shouted pointedly as she rolled to avoid Inferno's flamethrower.

Cheetor responded sheepishly, "Starting to have doubts..."

"Cover me, I'll contact the base."

"On it."

She crouched behind him as he provided cover fire. But no matter how many times she tried, all she heard on the com was static. "I can't get through!"

"What?!"

"Something's interfering with the com links!"

"Scrap! We're in big trouble now!"

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye Softpaw spotted Tarantulas on the outskirts of the battle zone. She hadn't noticed him before, but she knew he had to be up to no good. Without thinking, she charged after him.

Cheetor, suddenly aware that his comrade was no longer next to him, shot his head around and saw her legs disappearing around a corner. "Hey, what gives?!" Above him, Inferno and Waspinator cackled and doubled down on their attacks. "For crying out loud," the cheetah groaned and he dove for cover.

Softpaw caught up with Tarantulas, halting in time to give him a wide berth. Aiming her blaster at him, she growled, "Stop right there, you creepy crawly cretin."

The spider froze, not turning to face her. "You Maximals can be such foolish creatures..." As he spoke, he slowly crept his hand to his spearhead blaster. "Actually, that is inaccurate. You are foolish."

"No we're not! You Preds are the foolish ones! And...and brutes!" she stammered in response, flustered. She was no good at quips under pressure.

"You've proven my point..." He whipped around pointing his blaster at Softpaw. "...fool."

BANG!

She yelped in surprise, ducking down just in time to avoid a blast to the face. The V-shaped missile with jagged teeth dug into the stone behind her. Oh my stars. That was too slagging close! Softpaw's pulse was racing.

Tarantulas fired his leg machine guns at her, laughing maniacally. The Maximal transformed into beast mode, not only making her a smaller target, but allowing her animal agility to help her dodge the bullets.

Once the initial panic wore off, she chortled and taunted, "What's wrong Tarantulas? Eight eyes and you can't shoot little old me? Who's the fool now?"

Tarantulas growled at the impudent mockery from a tiny, fluffy-tailed mammal. He continued his deluge of bullets. Softpaw hopped towards the vast rock wall for cover behind some of the loose boulders. She Maximised, pulling out her blaster once more, and returned fire.

"Enough of this nonsense," he snarled impatiently. "Much as I'd like to stay and play, I have much more important matters to attend to. Ta ta!" He withdrew a large crossbow and fired, a large web sprawling out of its tip. The force of it slammed Softpaw against the wall and trapped her there. Tarantulas chuckled as he bolted around another corner.

Fortunately, his aim was not as good as he boasted, for Softpaw's right arm and half her torso had escaped being ensnared, and she managed to wriggle and cut her way free. A glance told her Tarantulas had gotten away, so she headed back to help Cheetor.

When she returned to the chaos of the battle, the cat was looking exhausted. "Thanks a bunch!" he said angrily through laboured breaths. "Where the heck did you go?"

Before she could answer to explain, a stray missile hit a large boulder at the top of the outcrop. She pushed Cheetor out of the way and they both landed in a crumpled heap as the rock landed next to them with a deafening thud. Through sheer luck, the boulder had taken Waspinator with it. They saw his hand twitching underneath it, and heard him groan something along the lines of, "Wassspinator feeling flat today..."

Relieved, Cheetor leaned against the boulder, pretending to act casual. "Piece of cake."

"Cake? Pancake is more like it, we almost got flattened!" she snapped, gesturing wildly at what was left of Waspinator. Before he could argue back, a pair of strong hands grabbed each of them by the back of their necks and hoisted them into the air. They felt themselves slammed against the wall and crumpled to the ground, groaning, their gears aching. They looked up and saw Inferno hovering over them, grinning. He had dropped them in a sharp cornerat the base of the outcrop. They were literally between a rock and a hard place: they were pinned.

"Burn, Maximals!"

Just as it seemed like he was going to incapacitate them, Inferno was tackled out of mid air by a white blur. Their saviour landed next to them, Inferno struggling under the strong paws. "This is no time for a snooze, you two."

"Tigatron!" Softpaw exclaimed in relief.

"Now we're talking!" Cheetor said with a smile, and the fight continued with Tigatron's aid.