In the fierce battle that had ensued from the entry of a planet-sized battleship into earth's solar system, the Cybertronians were winning the ground war between them and the enemy's forces. Just when it seemed that they had turned the tide of battle, however, the ship opened fire on them with cannons designed to destroy entire planets. Unable to defend against weapons of this magnitude, what had been a battle to defend earth had turned into an all out battle for survival. Ships scattered to avoid the tremendous blasts that were issued from thousand-mile long weapons of destruction. Optimus suddenly had to make a decision that would either kill them all, allow earth to be destroyed, or both: Should they stay and fight a hopeless battle, or retreat? It seemed that if they couldn't break through the gigantic shields of the enemy's ship, they could never hope to win. Something had to happen, and soon.

Uknown to the Cybertronians, now engaged in battle, a mysterious Cybertronian had been blasting through hordes of enemy ships single-handedly. His name, which only he knew, was White Orb. He had an advantage none of the others had: he was one of the last remaining second generation Cybertronian warriors from Jhiaxus's army. Being from that army gave him four million years of advancement in weapons and power systems over the army that had come from Cybertron or the Autobot/Decepticon alliance. He had also been designed with special abilities: he was a triple-changer: missile launching hovertank, robot, and spaceplane; his spaceplane mode had an extremely powerful energy shield that glowed white-hot, giving him his name and turning him into a flaming orb of destruction. He could have been considered the single most powerful warrior on Cybertron if anyone knew about him. He, however, had been born "defective" in the eyes of the second generation army: he had the morality of an Autobot. After fleeing Jhiaxus's minions, he chose to hide from all others until this time, when the entire planet had been called upon to save another. As he watched the battle turn against the Cybertronians, his fury grew. He understood he was the only one who could hope to break through the ship's shields.

"Computer, give me probability of passing through the shields at full speed with full energy shields," he said to his onboard computer.

"48%," was the reply.

"Calculate best trajectory through weakest point and then course through the nearest shield generator, then plot course and execute."

"Done."

"GO!" His shield went up and he hurled toward the ship at breakneck speed. Streaking through space like a shooting star, he plummeted toward the outer energy shield. The rest of the battlefleet couldn't help but notice this course of action.

"Unknown vessel, respond," came Optimus Prime's voice over the radio. "You're about to commit suicide!! Please stop and return to the battlefleet!"

"Ahh, the commander himself. Computer, maintain radio silence and continue present heading."

"I repeat: respond--return to the battlefleet imm--" Optimus's voice was cut short as he hit the outer shield. He passed through slowing down and losing power. He plunged deeper, slamming hard against the powerful inner shields. His shield was being drained against a force no other Cybertronian ship could have withstood. As his power dropped dangerously low, the view in front of him, which was being clouded by energy disturbances suddenly becam crystal clear. He was heading directly at the surface of the ship! He pulled up in just enough time to avoid impacting against its surface. He had made it through. He flew at tremendous speed through the low-density atmosphere. He spotted a small tower peaking through the odd artificial landscape, emitting energy pulses to the shields above. He locked on and fired two fusion missiles at the tower. It exploded into a massive fireball. He shot through the flames with little damage. He redirected his course up, away from the surface, to the hole that had been left in the shield by the sudden absence of a shield generator, and shot back into space.

"By the inferno, that maniac did it!" said Megatron in awe. Optimus stood aghast.

"No known Cybertronian has that much power." His thoughts then returned to the battle. "All units, attack the ship!! The shield has been compromised, I repeat the shield has been compromised!!." The heavy battlecruisers began firing artillery directly at the opening in the shield. Several single pilot fighters plunged into the opening and began attacking the structures on the surface. The ship itself continued firing the humongous planet destroyers at the battlefleet. "We still need a strategy," said Optimus. "We could blast thousands of holes in this thing and it would still decimate our forces."

"We have a chance now, Optimus. That's what matters," said Megatron.

"Yes," Optimus said uncertainly, "it is."

Deep in space, near the outer reaches of the solar system, five small planets that had been following the black sphere for centuries, attempting to end its rein of terror, sat awaiting a sign. They saw everything that was happening, somewhat amazed at the abilities of these alien defenders. This planet had allies they had never known about before; they had weakened the sphere to a point they could not have. It was time; the leading planet broke formation, opened a transwarp wormhole, and entered.

Optimus's ship shook as a blast grazed it. "Damage report!" he yelled.

"Shields down to 48%. Secondary engine system has gone out. The helm control console has been destroyed. Optimus, we have to leave the battle or risk being destroyed!" yelled Jetfire back.

"But, we must stay to command--"

"Optimus," screamed Megatron, "There's no way you can save the earthlings when you're dead! Let's go, you can get yourself killed later!"

Optimus looked torn for a second. Then a look of anger flooded his face. "Megatron, did you mean that as a threat?"

"Don't tempt me Prime," he said seriously, then an evil grin formed on his face.

"Jetfire, let's get out of here while we still can. Tell Hot Rot to lift off, he and Grimlock are in command now." Suddenly alarms sounded.

"Alert! Massive transwarp distortion detected," rang out the computer.

"On screen!" Space rippled, then tore open and spewed out a planetary mass that appeared to be made out of rock.

"Optimus, this one is much smaller. It doesn't seem to be as heavily defended, and--it's hailing us!" said Jetfire, surprised.

"Acknowledge. Let's see what this one wants." A humanoid wearing a helmet and breathing mask appeared on the viewscreen and began speaking in a strange language. The translator came on and began to convert it into Cybertronian.

"This is commander Grack of the Krag army of the Planet Rock. We have been chasing this ship--the Beast Planet--for centuries. I believe we have a common goal, and if we work together, I believe we have a chance to stop the Beast Planet once and for all."

"We have no other choice than to trust you. Do what you can."

The planet turned to the Beast Planet. A huge metal plate folded off its surface, revealing a gigantic missile launcher. It fired to the opening in the shields; the missile down and impacted the surface, blowing a gaping hole in the outer layers. The planetary destroyer cannons aimed at Rock, but they couldn't fire. The Dark Lord in the Beast Planet was furious.

"Energy cells depleted! We must flee!" he yelled. The two panels the cannons sat on folded back into the planet and it turned away from earth. A transwarp wormhole opened and it disappeared.

"Grack, we have many things to discuss," said Optimus. "Permission to land on your planet?"

"Permission granted."

The Cybertronian command vessel hovered into a landing on the surface of planet Rock. A small group of military leaders and dignitaries were at the landing site. The door slid open and two huge robots stepped out. "Uhhh, we had a plan for this situation," said Optimus to the small humanoids. "We have the ability to split our consciousness two ways." The two Go-Bot versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron came out of the ship. "We're connected via psychic link to these smaller versions of ourselves, which we use in cases where a smaller size is necessary. Treat them as you would treat us." The Krags looked at each other confusedly, then motioned for the Go-Bots to follow them. They entered a building cut into the ground. They walked down a long hallway until they came to a specific room, which one of the Krags opened by putting his hand on a panel by the door. The group entered and sat down at a table. One Krag remained standing by a computer screen which then activated and displayed a wire-frame model of the Beast Planet.

"This is what is known as the Beast Planet. It is a planet designed to feed off of other planets by swallowing them whole and draining their energy. You have already seen this as another planet in this system was swallowed earlier. You have seen its defensive capabilities: two giant cannons designed to penetrate a planet and, once at its center, to superheat its core to critical mass, destroying the planet." The computer showed an animation of a planet exploding after a blast reached its core.

"Its claw has the capability to drain enough energy from a planet that the molecules lose cohesion and fall apart. As a result, once a planet has been swallowed, the only thing left is asteroidal particles. There is a limit to the size of the planet that can be swallowed, however. Planets that have a diameter over 15,000 krackens is too large. According to information you sent us, that is approximately 6,500 earth miles."

"That means they could not have swallowed earth," said Optimus.

"No they could not. They were going to destroy it first. By your intervention you saved these humans--for now. We have only turned back the Beast Planet by depleting its energy reserves. It will try again. We must hit it soon and destroy it before it is back to full strength."

"How are we to do this? We barely survived last time," said Megatron.

"The Beast Planet is now vulnerable. It must recharge. It will go to the outer planets in the system and drain some of the moons orbiting them. We must strike then." The computer showed an internal view of the Beast Planet. The speaker pointed to a structure that ran up and down the back of the planet. "This is the anti-matter energy generation system that provides most of the power to the planet. It glows with the power of ten stars. We have designed a weapon strong enough to punch a hole in it and cause it to overload and destroy the entire planet. Our ships, however, cannot withstand the internal defensive system: four heavy-duty fusion cannons. We couldn't attempt a mission--until now. Your ships are faster and much more powerful than ours, and therefore are the best suited for this mission. Our strategy is a two-pronged attack. The outer doors are wired to close in case of an emergency, to prevent the full power of the explosion to hit the escapees. Unfortunately, they will close before you can make it out. The secondary prong will be a ground assault to destroy these emergency power conduits," he pointed to a structure on the surface of the planet, "which provide the power to close the doors. We will send our troops in to destroy these, and anyone who would like to help us. We will fly a telepad through the shield's damaged section and send them in through there. We have to hit now, before they can repair."

A huge transwarp wormhole opened near the orbit of Jupiter. The entire Cybertronian battlefleet and the Planet Rock exited. On board the command ship, Optimus Prime was speaking to the human ambassador. "...And you say that you have one cycle, appoximately 100 seconds, to cross 10,000 miles? What happens if you're not fast enough?"

"We'll be vaporized."

"Are you sure you want to do this yourself? Shouldn't you remain outside when this happens?" the human asked.

"I cannot ask anyone else but me and my best pilot to do this. I refuse to risk anyone else's life on this mission. I have transferred the matrix to another ship for safety's sake. If something goes wrong, someone else will need to lead."

"Well, I hope to see you again, in any case."

"Yes. Optimus out." Optimus, who was in the shuttlebay, turned to Megatron. "Are YOU sure you want to take the ground assault mission?"

"Come on. You know I crave combat, even if it isn't against you. Besides, I want to see what this teleportation everyone's so big on is."

"Alright, just promise to come back."

"What? After all these years I would've thought you would have wanted me gone."

"I need you to command the Decepticons," replied Optimus.

"Just like a Prime to put practicality before sentiment. Wait...no it's not."

"Well, just go," said Optimus. Megatron got into one of the shuttlecraft and launched toward Rock. Optimus turned on the com screen. "Jetfire, prepare this ship for excessively fast combat. We'll need extra speed."

A small rocket was launched off the surface of planet Rock. It directed itself to fly into the gap in the shields and landed on the Beast Planet's surface. The rocket's wing folded down, then four sections rotated out of it until it was a circle. The propulsion section of the rocket separated from the front section and returned to space. A group of Beast warriors noticed this and pointed their weapons at the new telepad that the rocket had dropped. Suddenly, a huge blast came out of it, and when the smoke had died away, Megatron stood on the telepad. He looked around at the bodies that layed on the ground. A group of Krag warriors appeared on the pad as well. "Good work," said the leader.

"That's what I signed on for," said Megatron. "Now where are those conduits?"

"They're just one kracken away in this direction." Megatron transformed into tank mode and drove in the direction he pointed. They approached the structures and Megatron returned to robot mode. He walked toward them and reached down. Suddenly, the sounds of laserfire came from behind him. A battalion of enemy soldiers and tanks surrounded the group.

"Well, I expected some action," said Megatron.

"Surrender, scum, or be destroyed," said one of the enemy warriors in its native language.

"Insolent humaniods," said Megatron. He turned and blasted; several tanks and warriors exploded. The Krag warriors opened fire, and a battle ensued.

"Get the conduit," yelled the Krag leader. Megatron reached down and ripped them out of the ground and threw it at the enemy. It exploded in front of them, destroying a number of them.

"Optimus", Megatron said over his communicator, "Get ready. The conduit has been destroyed."

In orbit of Jupiter, the Beast Planet was in the process of grappling the moon Ganymede when Optimus received the go signal. "Everyone, attack now!" The Cybertronian battlefleet descended upon the Beast Planet and began overwhelming it with firepower. Optimus's ship, now with three large cylinders that made up the Krag's weapon attached to its underside, flew toward the open doors in the front of the Beast Planet. Planet Rock appeared from behind Jupiter's shadow and fired its huge missile launcher at it. The battle escalated.

Megatron had just finished clearing out the enemy warriors and began to head back to the telepad when one of the Krags ran up to him. "The pad has been damaged! The Darkones must have taken it out when we were fighting."

"Well, there goes our escape plan," said Megatron.

"We have to find one of the Beast Planet's teleporters," said the Krag commander.

"We really don't have much time," replied Megatron, pointing at the sky now filled with the bright flashes of a huge battle. "Optimus must be heading toward the core by now."

"There should be one of the teleport complexes nearby." The commander looked around and saw a structure, which he pointed to, "Right there!" They ran to it. They entered and Megatron looked at a control panel and monitor.

"I have to fix for the delta band scrambling waves. The Autobots set up beacons in orbit of earth, and those are the only teleport pads anywhere near here that will receive this signal." Megatron began typing furiously.

Optimus's ship flew into the open doors. They sped forward along the giant cylindrical arm of the Beast Planet's claw. As he flew through the gigantic opening that made up the Beast Planet's interior, four giant laser blasts came from the other end and converged a few meters behind the ship. The ship caught part of the explosion and shook. "We need more speed! We'll never make it at this rate," he yelled.

"I need time to accellerate," said Jetfire. Another explosion rocked the ship.

"We'll just have to make due, then." The ship flew over and around to avoid the explosions. The space in front of it was becoming obscured in a bright red glow that was the antimatter core.

"We're almost halfway there," said Jetfire.

"Optimus, we've got a problem," said Hot Rod over the communicator. A large chunk of the Beast Planet had split off the top and turned toward the fleet, as a saucer shaped ship. It began firing massive weapons at Planet Rock and the battlefleet. The fleet scattered in all directions. "A large part of the planet has become a ship with powerful weapons."

"Fight it as long as you can. We need to finish what we've started," came the reply.

A blast hit planet Rock, creating a large crater on its surface. "This is just prime," said Hot Rod sarcastically.

Optimus's ship was nearing the core. "We have one chance. Prepare to fire." He waited until he saw the shape of the bright red lit core attached to the end of the claw's arm. "Fire!" he yelled. A blast flew out of the weapon on the underside of the ship and struck the core, puncturing the magnetic holding field preventing the antimatter from escaping and reacting with the antimatter inside.

The radio came to life with a message in the Beast Planet's language. The ship translated "Alert: antimatter core overload; 100 centicycles until complete destruction. Outer doors will close in 70 centicycles." The ship made a sharp U-turn and headed back toward the outer doors. "Alert: outer door malfunction. Auxiliary power activation in 20 centicycles. Outer doors will close in 90 centicycles."

"Auxiliary power?!?! Jetfire, we have to speed up, that just shaved ten centicycles off of our time." Optimus looked out the view screen and saw something else. "The claw is being retracted!"

Optimus sat down in the second pilot seat and grabbed the controls. As they sped closer to the claw, now a giant black object obscuring their view, he pulled back on the controls and the ship flew up, avoiding impact against the claw by meters.

Megatron was hurriedly typing in coordinates of the telepad they were to land on. The group of Krags stood near the pads. "Alert: 50 centicycles until total core overload," came the warning on the intercom.

"Get on the pads, now!" he yelled at the Krag troops. The first Krags stepped on the pad and dematerialized. Then the next.

"Alert: 45 centicycles until total core overload."

Optimus's ship cleared the top of the claw and shot forward. "Alert: 35 centicycles until outer doors close." The two jagged edges of the outer doors were now visibly pulling closed. They were quickly closing the distance to the opening. "Alert: 30 centicycles until outer doors close."

The battlefleet was laying a barrage of fire against the giant battleship. It's shield was gradually weakening, and its firepower was wearing down. It fired a blast that hit a heavy battlecrusier and destroyed it. Another barely missed Hot Rod's ship. "Shields are damaged," yelled Bumblebee.

"Alert: 25 centicycles until total core overload."

The city outside of the teleport complex began flaming as buildings began to explode. Megatron finished the teleport of the last Krags and began to program the teleporter to turn on ten centicycles after he stepped on the pad. "Alert: 20 centicycles until total core overload." Megatron hit the activate button and began the countdown until he was teleported and stepped on the pad.

The ship neared the opening as the inside of the planet began exploding around them. "Alert: 5 centicycles until outer doors close," rang the computer. The doors slid closer and closer together as the ship finally neared the thinning opening.

"We're too big! We'll never make it!" yelled Jetfire.

"Not if I can help it!" said Optimus. He jerked on the wheel and turned the ship sideways. It flew out of the opening, hitting a satellite dish on the door as it shot away. "Hot Rod, this place is about to go up! Get out of here!"

The door slammed closed.

"Alert: 5 centicycles until total core overload." Megatron stood on the pad and it activated. He slowly dematerialized in enough time to hear the final countdown.

"4"

A number of the Beast Planet's fighters and heavy cruisers lifted off the planet as the last inhabitants evacuated.

"3"

The battlefleet turned around and flew away from the Beast Planet. Optimus's ship hit the afterburners and sped away.

"2"

Megatron finally dematerialized completely as the ground underneath the complex began to explode.

"1"

"0"

There was a blinding flash of light as the outer surface shattered under the force of a tremendous explosion. The shockwave that was emitted neared Optimus's ship. It hit the back of the saucer ship which dissintegrated under the power of the wave. It gained on the Optimus's ship then made contact. The force knocked the ship forward at tremendous speed as it expanded out into space. It began to lose power; when it finally died down, Optimus was on the floor and much of the ship was damaged. The viewscreen was static. He hit the communicator panel and contacted the Planet Rock. "Do you have Megatron?" he asked.

"No," came the reply. Optimus's eyes sank.

"Prime, I'm on earth!" came Megatron's voice over the com. "We had to improvise. The telepad was damaged so we used the Beast Planet's."

"You're all right?"

"I just barely made it out. A few more centicycles and my molecules would have been toast."

"Well, as long as you're all right."

Optimus was on the Rock Planet's surface as they exited transwarp space. As he looked, a giant structure appeared in the sky.

"This is Shadowraider station," said Grack.

Optimus could see six small moons connected to each other in a ring with long cylindrical structures, with four spokes coming from the center. Attached to the underside were four planets, one in the center and three on the spokes of the giant wheel. A fourth spoke hung in space, apparently as the attachment for Rock. As it neared and the spoke attached to the top of the planet, Optimus asked, "What will you do now?"

"We've won this battle, not the war. As long as the Darkones exist they pose a threat to the safety of the galaxy. We will leave here to seek their hideouts. We once believed we destroyed the Beast Planet, but it was rebuilt. We will have to discover where they work on their evil structures and end their tyranny once and for all."

"Call on us if you ever need assistance," said Optimus.

"Now that we know you exist, we will call on you often. We must work together to stop them. Only good must survive for us all to be safe. Now that the Beast Planet has been destroyed, we will be able to defeat the Dark Lord and his minions once and for all."

"Contact Planet Remora," said the Dark Lord in his escape cruiser. "We will dock there and make preparations." He looked at a computer screen displaying a picture of--Cybertron. "We have our next target. It will be devoured. No one escapes the Beast Planet! My enemies, the War Planets, shall suffer for this indignity, and the aliens will cease to exist! The Planet Wars have begun, and they all will pay."