Disclaimer: I do not own GoBots nor its characters. Just this strange plot.

A sudden sonic boom and streak of grey stunned those upon the bridge of the Command Center.

"What the---?!" Matt said as he tried to assess what little he had just seen.

Just as Turbo was about to reply, Scooter chimed in on the comm.

[Turbo, I need your assistance down here please.]

"What's THAT all about?" Turbo muttered as he departed the bridge, leaving three dumbfounded humans in charge of the Command Center.

Matt gazed skyward. "I wonder..."

A.J. was one step ahead of him however. She'd been manning some of the ship's various scanners and diagnostics. She received the alarm of the cargo bay door opening. "Matt, that was Leader-1!"

"Why would he--oh wait, I bet he got the information he needed from Crasher and with the other ship compromised, the plans have changed. He's taking the mission all upon himself."

"But he'll be killed!"

"A.J., we've got to trust him. He's performed solo missions successfully in the past."

"And failed in a few..." Nick added.

"A lot of help you are." Matt shot back.

"Just stating the facts." Nick said with a shrug before returning to his duty of scanning the radars.

Seconds later, a coded electronic signal was received through the ship's communications equipment. It only took moments for A.J. to use the various systems to decipher it.

"Matt, it's from Leader-1! He wants us to astrobeam Heatseeker and Rest-Q to our present location. He's going after Aurora before our last element of surprise is compromised."

"Last element of surprise...but, the Command Center hasn't been compromised yet." Matt muttered in thought.

"Himself!" Nick shouted confidently.

"Once Heatseeker is here, he wants him to bring Crasher with him to a designated location."

"I sure hope he has a plan." Matt said as he shook his head. Though he thought he knew Leader-1 well enough, the Guardian Commander often threw a few jinks into his personality. But, it was those jinks that probably kept the great warrior alive to fight another day.

At the volcano...

The Thruster carrying Cop-Tur, Snoop, and their new captive arrived with a loud whoosh. Cy-Kill was there to greet them...impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for the hatch to open. He didn't have to wait long, Snoop appeared quickly to absorb the praise.

"Good work Snoop! This is a great coup!" Cy-Kill exclaimed as he gave Snoop a pat on the arm. "Is she still alive?"

"Barely Cy-Kill. I had to administer first aid halfway here, but she'll need more if she's to stabilize."

"Awww, what a shame! But, I do have use for her. She has information that will be very useful to our cause. She was also extremely close to that ugggghh, do-gooding has-been, Leader-1. So, even some of her personal information could be of use as well. Put her in a stasis chamber aboard my Thruster. That should keep her alive for the time being."

"Yes, Cy-Kill! Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"We encountered a new Guardian ship. I ordered the other Thruster to remain to engage and destroy. It was like nothing we'd ever seen before...sleek, streamlined, and rather odd for a Guardian design."

"Must be the ship this female Guardian arrived in. It's likely her 'team' was aboard engaging you. She pulls the same tactic her boyfriend used to...jet out in advance of the main ship. "

"Cy-Kill!" a deep slow voice droned from within the Thruster.

"Yeesss, Cop-Tur?"

"Just got word from the other Thruster. The strange Guardian ship and all aboard have been destroyed. They are returning to base now."

"Great news indeed! This must be my lucky day! I'll send a salvage team to rummage through the remains for any Guardian 'advances' to technolgy that we might find useful." Cy-Kill laughed.

Snoop gulped upon hearing the news. In the excitement of all that occurred, both Thrusters had forgotten the main mission from being there in the first place. "Uh, Cy-Kill?"

"What now?!"

"Do you wish me to go out and finish the mission?"

"Finish?"

"We didn't find Fitor or Crasher. We were distracted when we detected and engaged the new Guardians."

"Is it possible you destroyed our comrades aboard that new ship?"

"I don't think they were aboard that ship. Just a haunch, but if that was a new team, then Leader-1's team was likely nearby and with a Command Center. It would seem the more logical choice for prisoner retention."

"I hadn't thought of that...excellent call Snoop! Yes, by all means depart. But, keep it recon. Just you, no Thrusters or other Renegades. If you engaged the one ship, the other is likely going to lay very low and lick its wounds of loss. If it has our comrades, they will turn them into pawns of trade. It's just Turbo, Scooter, and those pesky humans. Not much of a threat without their 'great' leader."

Back near Everest...

"Matt! The Thruster is departing! It's not even trying to scan further."

"Whew, what a break! They must have assumed Aurora's ship was the only Guardian signal they detected. But, why didn't they finish the mission? I would've assumed they were here seeking their comrades we have captive."

Just then Scooter and Turbo returned to the bridge.

"Crasher is secured. She's cackling...should've secured her mouth." Turbo commented. "Did you find Leader-1?"

"We saw him very briefly on scanner and just a blur on visual. His new jet form makes his signature like that of a sparrow. Our long range sensors won't detect him."

"He got the coordinates of Cy-Kill's whereabouts from Crasher. Then he just took off." Scooter added.

It was then that the two GoBots were briefed on the most recent transmissions from their commander.

Matt thought about it. "It's possible the Renegades will return here. I'm concerned that our position here is going to be compromised before Leader-1 returns. Is there a way you can contact Leader-1? Without knowing what he's up to, I'd hate to move the ship and have him return to nothing. He might just lure the Renegades out and want us here as surprise backup. Scooter, could you try to hail him?"

"Well, I can try, but if he's gone covert, he'll have all responders off."

"He contacted us with electronic chatter to the ship. Maybe you can do a reverse of that?" A.J. inquired.

Scooter thought about it. "That should work, but I'm not really sure he wants to be bothered. And didn't you say he did give orders for Heatseeker and Rest-Q?"

"Yes, but---"

"Then we have to follow those. If he wanted us to move, he would've told us to move. I've known Leader-1 for a long time. He's very thorough, even if he's in an increased emotional state. He has a plan. We just have to trust him. Let's get to the astrobeam." Scooter mentioned.

Elsewhere...

Leader-1 screamed silently across the skies, skimming cloud bases and weaving around storm systems. All his sensors, both new and old were on high, scanning for Renegade presence at any moment. He had already detected the returning Thruster and decided to follow its projected route, but at a very safe distance where he wouldn't be detected. As the Thruster began a descent and the coordinates drew closer to Crasher's information, Leader-1 dove straight down for the deck. He only levelled off when he was mere feet from the surface. Rising slightly higher so the debris kicked up from his thrust wouldn't give him away, yet low enough so neither Renegade nor human scanners could detect him, he continued on his supersonic course. Then, suddenly, he remembered a new system the Last Engineer had installed. Opening a new compartment between his landing gear, he dropped and spun a missle into launch position. A welcoming card out of nowhere from nobody seemed rather appropriate and a great distraction to draw out some of Renegade swarm out of their hive. He would retain his element of surprise only with a slight deviation. With the attack on Aurora and her crew, the Renegades knew there were Guardians already present. This will have them thinking there's a few more...but distract them from even the idea of a single, very dangerous Guardian hell bent on ending things once and for all.

In those same skies...

Snoop launched and converted to her sleek jet form. She quickly accelerated and as she was obtaining altitude caught a glint of metal sheen glisten momentarily in the sunlight far below. "Hmm...pesky humans...this is a no-fly zone fools!" she muttered to herself as she altered course for further inspection.

Leader-1 was about to release the missle when he suddenly detected an incoming bogey with Renegade signature all over it. "What the---" was all he could say before Snoop was nearly in visual range. Already too low to fully maneuver, Leader-1 tucked the missle back within, closed his bay door, and accelerated, but into a sweeping arc that would turn him 180 degrees and head on with the oncoming Renegade. "Let's see if she wants to play chicken." he said to himself as he aligned into a trajectory that would put him on Snoop's same course. He kept his Guardian transponder off. Perhaps she'd think him some crazy human pilot with a death wish.

In seconds, Snoop was peering at a strange grey jet. "Unknown jet, cease and desist or you will be destroyed." she broadcasted in effort to turn the fighter that was hurling her way. She had no desire to fool around and risk damage with some insignificant human fighter pilot.

Leader-1 gave no response to her hail. Instead, he switched missles within his bay for a short-range air-to-air. Keeping his bay door closed, he continued on his collision course.

Snoop became more agitated. "Last warning! Back down now before I fill you with laser blasts. You will NOT survive the engagement!"

Still no response. But the rate of closure was so fast that she had no time to do anything other than slam herself sidewards to avoid collison.

Leader-1 did the same, slipping sideways in the other direction. Their bodies nearly scraped each other. But, Leader-1 was ascending while Snoop was descending. He now had the advantage and quickly flipped himself over and commenced a descent as well. Now, he opened his bay door and rolled the new missle into place. "Sorry Snoop, but I don't have time to mess around with you." he muttered to himself as he locked on, ignited the missle, and sent it hurling towards the black jet that was still trying to pull out of her descent.

The missle slammed into her starboard wing and ripped a gaping hole into it as it exploded. She went spinning into the ground below.

Leader-1 peeled off before knowing whether or not the Renegade had survived the impact or even where she had impacted. He had no more time. He likely lost his element of surprise by engaging and downing the Renegade jet.

Returning to his low and fast trajectory, he approached the volcano. This time, no distraction missle. He was going in hard and fast and would take out any Renegade that dared cross his path. Scanning the volcano for anamolies in its rock structure and composition, Leader-1 found the possible entrances easily enough. Selecting the missle he had originally planned to launch, he ignited it and shot it into the volcanic mountainside where the main entrance was likely located.

It exploded with massive debris blowing all over. Before the dust could clear, Leader-1 flew into the blast hole, converted back to robot mode, then flew on, weaving through the various corridors and blasting stunned Renegades before they knew what hit them.

Multi-tasking was one of Leader-1's strong points. While engaging Renegades, he was also scanning the various corridors and chambers...seeking out two particular signatures...he found them both and in a stroke of good fortune, realized they were not in the same place. While his feelings tugged at him to pursue the weak Guardian signature, his mind and warrior instinct told him he HAD to pursue the strong Renegade one.

Quickly converting back to jet mode, he blasted the double doors that protected the main chambers of the Renegade base. He shot skyward, high above the two stunned Renegade officers below.

"WHAT?!" was Cy-Kill's surprised yell as Cop-Tur instinctively ducked despite the fact that the Guardian jet was nowhere near him.

Leader-1 reached the ceiling and spun himself around for a downward pass at the Renegade Commander.

"Ever wonder what death looked like?" Leader-1 asked the stupified Renegade as he descended.

Cy-Kill's optical receptors widened in shock. The voice was unmistakable and the question...too true to its words to even contemplate. His greatest adversary was back from the dead...yet again. This time though, something was very different about him and it wasn't his new jet form that was raining laser blasts either.

to be continued...