Beneath the surface of the planet of Cybertron sits the ruins of the city of Iacon, once home to the Autobots. As Pantora steps forward through the city archway, she is greeted by none other than Optimus Primal, who entered the city through the elevator after activating the Autobot City security grid. He shows Pantora the city's great golden dome, and the remaining console of Teletran Two, in which he has fastened the Covenant.
Back in the city, Stalker is awaiting slow Maximal justice, when she receives word that the proper strings have been pulled and she is being transferred across the border to the Predacon jail. As a contrast from the cell she left, Stalker is taken to a dingy basement where she is both mocked and praised by the collected prisoners, and awaits her Predacon trial: in the sector commander's arena. After watching a few battles, Stalker becomes the main event when she is put up against a multi-tentacled alien beast. She has little knowledge of the alien's biology, but eventually defeats the creature, drawing applause from the crowd. The Predacon commander Beetalion of the northern sector congratulates her in person, and offers to allow her passage on an expedition he is currently funding. Though not entirely sure of the details, she accepts. The group in Metroplex finds the secret elevator and heads down after Pantora, exploring Iacon further. Darkecho finds a piece of his ancestor, Soundwave, on this battlefield, and realizes that this is where he lost his life. Once the group has gathered in the dome, Optimus plays back the final recordings made by Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime. Apparently, in order to destroy Galvatron and his troops who had taken over the city of Iacon, Magnus and Rodimus dropped a bomb on the city which destroyed both Autobot and Decepticon alike. The long casualty list includes Hot Rod himself, who is entombed within the dome, sans Matrix of Leadership, of course. Optimus Primal downloads from the computer the starmap which has directions to Earth as well as a few locations where he believes he can begin the search for Optimus Prime. The other characters explore the computer's files, as well, learning as much as they can about their planet's history before departing from the Cybertronian graveyard.
As they leave Metroplex, our heroes meet up with an old friend: Air Commander Rahven and his troops, who claim they no longer have interest in Primal or Eldred but are planning on securing the Covenant. Optimus insists that the book is in its rightful resting place. Subcommander Windstorm agrees and calls his soldiers away, but the high commander persists. Eldred offers to stay behind in Metroplex if the others want to get Optimus back to Silicon City; Optimus agrees, knowing that good sense will win out.
The group returns to Silicon, and temporarily parts ways. Caesar speaks with the Warders, and finds out a few things. First of all, an off-planet Warder colony has been destroyed in the wake of Maximal-Predacon violence, and the Maximals are generally being blamed. Second of all, a preliminary investigation of the Daughters turned up no evidence of Unicronian involvement, and a suspicious Merrick has gotten warnings not to pursue any further. Mantisoar, meanwhile, has opted not to make the journey to Earth—staying on Cybertron and defeating the suspected Unicron spawn are more important to him. Pantora also collects news about her commander; the attack on the Predacon sector went through, and, though none of the pertinent Predacons were captured, the sector was, with few Maximal injuries.
Optimus, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, Pantora, Spike, Caesar, Thundershot, Darkecho, and Fracas comprise the final boarding call for the planet Earth. They're a crew with one problem: no ship, as Thundershot's ship itself has been confiscated, the Warders currently have few resources to spare, and Maximal space travel has been greatly restricted in the wave of current conflict. Silverbolt has already revealed the group's plans to the High Council, and gotten a negative response, much to Blackarachnia's detriment. However, he has gotten a message from Predacon commander Beetalion, who has a ship and unlimited travel access...provided the Maximals provide him a map and a crew. But, trust a Predacon commander?