The situation on Qre comes to a head as the Autobots battle Jhiaxus's forces.

Synopsis

With the Autobots free, the Firecons rush forth to stop them, but Windbreaker knocks them back with his wind abilities. Pyro and Jhiaxus begin to spar. Aquafend attempts to help him out, but Pyro precognitive senses reveal that Hi-Q inside him. Aquafend hesitates, and Jhiaxus grabs the Autobot, mocking him for valuing a Nebulon's life over his own. Blaze lets loose with his abilities, knocking the Sharkticons offline with a shot that ricochets into various important components of the base before finally striking Jhiaxus' head. His chest panels opening as he falls unconscious, Pyro grabs Hi-Q, and the Autobots evacuate as the lab equipment begins to explode. Unfortunately, Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Mirage stop them before they can reach their ship.

Observing from a nearby cliff head, Nightracer remarks to herself that everything has gone wrong, as Side Burn finally catches her. Not in the mood for his flirtatious advances, Nightracer points him to the situation below, and the sight causes Side Burn to regain his memory, as he remembers the war. Side Burn tells her that he has to join them, and Nightracer tries to convince him to stay with them, telling him that he's a Decepticon now, like her. Side Burn points out she was never truly a Decepticon, and was meant to rise above factions and symbols, and offers to take her and the Battlechargers with him.

Down below, Pyro tries the same, but Ironhide rebuffs him, claiming that he's just as bad as Jhiaxus said. Angered, Blaze gets right in his face, telling him that while Jhiaxus goals are great, the universe isn't a black and white place, and that they have a duty. His words strike a chord, and the Go-Bots admit all they really want it to be left in peace. Pyro offers to show them the Autobots of Earth and Nebulos, and that if they still aren't convinced, they'll take them back to Qre. The Autobots prepare to head off, with Side Burn and his friends joining them; meanwhile, Sky-Byte and Jhiaxus watch from above. Jhiaxus reveals that his encounter was planned, to test a theory, and decides that for a true second generation to exist, he must exterminate the first!

Four days later, Ultra Magnus meets with Pyro, going over events. Pyro assures Hi-Q that Runamuck and Runabout will be turned over to Nebulon authorities. Side Burn tries to convince Magnus to be lenient, but it proves unnecessary, as Hi-Q is uninterested in legal action, wanting to get back to work. Suddenly. Sizzle rushes forth, revealing that he's gone further into the future than ever before, and warns everyone that Machine Wars are coming...

To be continued!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"For such a peaceful genius, you certainly keep a quantity of ravenous beasts at your beck and call!"
"The beasts can be retrained. Unlike 'bots like yourself, apparently."

—Pyro and Jhiaxus

"This... I've seen this before... I-- I remember! By the One, I remember everything! The fighting, the screaming, the war..."

—Side Burn

"This encounter was a calculated loss; it was required to prove a theory of mine. In order to prevent contamination of the second generation... we must annilhilate the first!!!"

—Jhiaxus

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include: The One and Prowl.

Continuity notes

• Ultra Magnus notes that Quantum Laboratories blueprints were destroyed; mentioned in the second installment as the source of the Go-Bot blueprints Jhiaxus stole, Quantum Laboratories itself originates from The Transformers episode "Day of the Machines".
• Ultra Magnus notes that Side Burn hasn't changed at all, much to Side Burn's confusion, as he's never met him before (but see "errors" below), in-keeping with the idea that Magnus was rebuilt from either Dion or Magnum as presented in "Battle Lines, Part 6", both of whom knew Side Burn.

Transformers references

• Jhiaxus damaged face, with its missing "re-breather", resembles his original face in the Marvel Generation 2 comic.
• Megaplex, Soundwave, and Starscream are all depicted in their original Machine Wars toy bodies. Optimus Prime, meanwhile, is depicted in his Reveal the Shield Deluxe Class toy, itself based on his Generation 2 "Laser Optimus Prime" toy.

Errors

• On page 5, annihilate is misspelled "annilhilate".
• Side Burn acts like he's meeting Ultra Magnus for the first time, but Ultra Magnus was created before Side Burn entered stasis. Perhaps not an outright error, as they were never depicted meeting beforehand, but it seems off.
• Not errors per se, as it's an allegorical vision, but Megaplex, Starscream, and Optimus Prime's appearances don't actually match the ones seen in the BotCon 2013, where the former are in their convention exclusive bodies, and Optimus is in his original body. What is an error is Galvatron, whose depicted here in his cartoon model, rather than the Universe toy body he's had in his other appearances.

Other trivia

• It's not evident what happens to Soundwave and Frenzy; the script indicates they remained with Jhiaxus.