Oh wow, ten whole chapters completed. Thanks for sticking around and giving support you guys! I never thought I'd write something this long!

Hot Rod's bright azure optics scanned across the group of Autobots that stood before him. At one point he did steal a glance at Optimus, but he didn't approach the Prime. In fact, he actually seemed to be quite shy towards him, either than or incredibly nervous about going up to him. Springer took notice of his traveling companion's shyness and parted from his former colleagues to speak with the young mech.

During their conversation, the two other Autobots that had been inside of the hangar were slowly emerging to meet the new arrivals. Bumblebee was carefully aiding the still-weakened Smokescreen out into the golden light of the new dawn.

The Guardsman looked up at both Springer and Hot Rod, and from what Optimus could see, he actually began to look somewhat excited at the new recruits.

"Hot Rod? Is that you? " Smokescreen asked as the two young Autobots slowly made their way forward. Bumblebee chirped and whirred at his injured friend, as though asking if they knew each other.

The orange and gold Autobot looked up away from Springer and towards the other two. He looked stunned at the sight of them and quickly strode up to meet with them.

"Smokescreen? I didn't know you were here too! "Hot Rod's optics became brighter with his new founded happiness.

"Yeah, I was kinda captured by Decepticons, and then came here in one of their long-distance escape pods." Smokescreen began smiling at the sunrise-coloured Autobot, "I was also shot by one the other day – But don't worry about that. Rod, what are you doing here? "

"After I received the news about the siege on Iacon, I tried to get there as quickly as I could. But when I arrived, there was really nothing left to save, except for a few Autobots who were extremely lucky to be alive. "He told his tale, "I thought that you had been killed by the Cons at one point, Smokescreen. When I didn't receive word from you, I really did believe it was true. "

"You know this mech, Hot Rod? "Springer cut in.

"Yeah! We met in the Academy, and we ended up training with one another frequently. That's how we ended up being friends. We'd tell each other about what great warriors we wanted to be someday. "Hot Rod became elated by the better memories of the past, "He received his Wings first. You can't imagine how proud I was for him, even if the induction ceremony was a tad lackluster. The other graduates snuck in some high grade and partied, except for Smokey here. I was supposed to get my own set of Elite Guard Wings as well, but then the war caught up with us. "

Hot Rod drifted through his memories as though they had only occurred the other day.

"After that siege on Iacon, more bots began to leave our husk of a planet. They knew it wasn't safe there anymore, even the Wreckers knew. Hell, even the Cons knew. "Hot Rod began his tale once more before Springer then cut in.

"Yes, that was just as the Wreckers disbanded. You and I met just outside of the ruins of Praxus. Hot Rod and I both stayed close to one another for quite some time scavenging for whatever we could find leftover on the surface on Cybertron. The both of us were lucky enough to find a pair of ships and other supplies, and afterword we parted ways. "He paused, reminiscing , but soon continued, "We met again on the other side of one spiral galaxy and decided it was probably for the best that we stick together since fate was so willing to cross our paths so many times. Not to mention, having one ship would save us so much energon. Speaking of which, it's a good thing that Magnus commed us when he did. Rod and I had just stumbled across a good deposit on the outer planet of this solar system. "

"Who knew? " Hot Rod said as he folded his arms across the golden flame that decorated his chassis.

With that, the group sauntered inside of the hangar, Optimus and Ratchet trailed at the tail-end of the group. Both of them kept noticing how Hot Rod was still wary about approaching, or even getting close to either of them. This seemed like such strange behavior for a young mech that appeared to be so social. How was it that he could ignore the Prime for this long? Had he no interest in meeting him? Or was he just that nervous?

Whatever the case might have been, it should be the least of their concerns. Optimus almost immediately called the group of Autobots together in the hangar to formulate a plan for their next move.

Their plan: Move to an undisclosed location in an uninhabited part of central Utah without being noticed by the Decepticons. Then, the group would further plan out a straight shot for the fortress.

"We must leave immediately. "Optimus commanded the group when their meeting ended, "The humans will lead us to the location. Smokescreen, Ratchet and Springer will take the ships, and the rest of us will travel by road. "

"Optimus, if anything, at least take Ultra Magnus' hammer with you for the trip. We…we can't be too careful. "Ratchet advised.

The Prime only silently stared in the direction of the hammer, which was still housed inside of one of the ships, contemplating.

Magnus couldn't see the gold, foreboding light of the approaching dawn, but he could feel it. He could feel the presence of the three-headed dragon the loomed below him, and he could feel how it was growing more anxious with every passing second. Dawn had to be just on the horizon.

During the night, he had taken the time to explore the bittersweet memories that had been revealed to him. He could remember the times Magnum had spent with Orion so long ago when they were young and innocent to the hell of war. The countless promises that he had made in the past stung at his Spark once he recalled them.

"Orion, once this project in Iacon is finished let's go and spend a solar cycle at Six Lasers. " Magnum had said while watching Orion work.

"Magnum, you and I both know that Six Lasers is reserved for the higher castes. " The other chuckled halfheartedly.

"Oh fine, what would you rather do? "

"Let's just drive and spend that solar cycle together. Primus knows you and I need it." Orion smiled with more enthusiasm.

"We never did go on the drive, did we Orion? "Ultra Magnus mumbled in his dark cell, "Even after that project was completed like I said it would, I was just sent off to another project far, far away. "

His own words began to eat away at his Spark as he shrouded himself in a heavy shadow of regret.

"Alpha Trion, I apologise for the intrusion, but I must ask you to so one small favor for me. "Magnum said as he approached the head Archivist.

"Yes Magnum? What can I do for you? "

"The recent project here in Iacon has been completed, and I had promised Orion that we would go out. But, something has come up and I'm being reassigned to another building project down in Polyhex that has been commissioned by Sentinel Prime. I must leave immediately, and Orion isn't here. Would you please tell him that I'll be gone for a little while longer? "He had asked.

"Why can't you convey this information through your familial bond? "the Archivist asked with growing curiosity.

"I…"Magnum paused to find the words, "I don't have the Spark to tell him. "

"But I did have the Spark. "Magnus murmured in the lone cell, "I felt something was wrong and I wanted to protect him. "

Then came the sound of footsteps, growing in volume as the made their advance to the Autobot's cell. The lock mechanism on the door click, and the cell door slid open to display a small ground of Eradicons that has congregated outside of his gloomy prison.

Three stepped forward, one of which moved to the side where the controls were and flipped the override switch to the stasis cuff that bound the Autobot. The cuffs flickered and then abruptly released him, causing Magnus to drop to his knees. He watched with piercing optics as the other two Eradicons moved behind him and transformed their servos into rifles whose barrels glowed brightly with increasing power.

One shoved at his back, "It's time Autobot. Predaking's hungry. "

Ultra Magnus said nothing to retort the Eradicon, he just stood and complied with them as he had done for the past solar cycle. What could he do? Escape was suicide, and walking this path to the monster too was suicide. There was no way out. He would just have to take the lesser of two evils, and try to take out the new menace that had threatened his fellow Autobots.

Perhaps, if Primus smiled upon him and if he was incredibly lucky, he could make it out alive. But even if he did succeed against Predaking, what then? Would the Decepticons just keep him locked in a cell as some kind of pet forced to fight for his life against the dragon forever? The countless questions were distressing.

Soon the Eradicons came to a stop, and the ones in front of him parted and moved to the back to merge with the small group behind him. Had they arrived already?

"Good luck, Autobot. "One voice broke free from the crowd as another pressed another mechanism to encase him within four enclosed walls with barely any room to move. Ultra Magnus could hear them outside, laughing manically.

A few moments passed before the wall in front of him lowered to reveal an arena-like open area with an open ceiling where the lightening sky could be viewed. Looking about the grounds, Magnus could see various parts of both Insecticons and Eradicons strewed across the sandy grounds where it would be left to decay. He stepped forward into the light, only to be greeted by the roars of the countless Decepticons that sat high in the stands.

Magnus stared upward at the multitude of Decepticons and soon locked optics with Megatron himself, who was also staring downward with an evil smirk plastered across his faceplate with growing anticipation. Soundwave stood silently right beside him and Starscream was seated alongside his armada of silver Eradicons not to far away from them.

The crowd's voices soon diminished and Megatron stood and called out to them.

"For your entertainment, I present to all of you; Ultra Magnus versus Predaking! " He thundered as the crowd once more erupted into a chorus of cheers.

Another roar that didn't belong to the crowd soon rose up overwhelmed the Cons. Ultra Magnus clasped his servos over his audio receptors at the sound of the deafening shriek that arose from one particularly large pile of discarded parts.

Suddenly, Predaking burst from the hill of empty shells and sent countless parts flying through the air and into the crowd. Magnus stared with widening optics, his venting increased at the sight of the dragon charging towards him. But soon he came to realize that the dragon actually halted half-way through the charge and began thrashing and clawing at the ground, struggling. Predaking was chained.

By the sound of the straining metal of the opposite wall, it seemed like Magnus didn't have a whole lot of time to act. But in order to assess the situation and formulate the best plan of attack, he needed to get close enough to analyze the dragon.

His right servo retracted and changed into an integrated sword that he hadn't used in years. Ever since he had been paired up with Stormbringer, he never felt the need to use the sword. However, since he was without his hammer, he would have to make do with the bare steel of his own blade, along with anything else that could hopefully put a dent in this dragon. After taking in a deep, cooling breath of air, the great Autobot took his own charge at the great three-headed beast before him, letting out his own battle cry in response to the shrieking dragon.

Predaking reared up onto his hind legs and let out another blaring roar as Ultra Magnus made his advance, while raising all three of its heads high into the air and raising his claws in a threatening manner. Magnus moved quickly to the side and managed to crack his blade against the beast's flank, yielding close to no results, not even a dent graced the dragon's iron hide.

A clawed paw swiped through the air and caught Ultra Magnus, flinging him across the arena into one of the many piles of discarded frames. Predaking cried out again, lifting himself to his hind legs and flapping humongous wings whilst trying to break free from his chains. In the meantime, Ultra Magnus had his free servo clasped against a wound the dragon had inflicted with his dangerous claws.

"-Razor-sharp claws

-Keeps heads raised and out of reach

-Tough skin…"

He scanned the dragon as it continued to yank at the chain that bound it to the opposite wall and away from his prey. Magnus looked at where he had struck at the dragon's flank, and discovered something encouraging. Energon was leaking out from underneath the beast - he must have found a weaker spot.

"-Soft underbelly. The orange plates are more easily pierced than that of the black ones. "

Perhaps he had a chance against this foe after all, that is if he wasn't ripped apart by Predaking first.

The Autobots were moving as quickly as they could to get to their latest hiding spot in Utah. Just as was planned, Ratchet, Smokescreen and Springer had taken to the skies alongside Agent Fowler's helicopter and a few Air Force pilots in their own jets.

Optimus Prime followed just below the flying team, and just a little ways behind the ground team. Stormbringer was nestled within his trailer, waiting for the right time when it would be unleashed so that it would once again hammer back the Decepticon forces and be reunited with its true owner.

The Prime drove in silence, continuing to try and reach out to his brother who still wasn't answering him. He prayed to Primus that He would watch over the Autobots in their moment of need, and hoping that Magnus would hold on just a little longer.

More of Magnus vs. Predaking in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!