The next day, Pantora has orders to visit her commander on the Maximal base. He has orders that the Predacon prisoners should be transferred to the custody of Stampede, who is Pantora's superior officer. He also gives Pantora and her group (Ravvok, Stampede, Mantisoar, and the Predacons) clearance to cross the border. The group, heading through the last of the Maximal sectors, runs into another mercenary, a Maximal stoat named Stalker. Amused by the rookie, Sellsword invites her to come along. However, upon reaching the Predacon border, the party is rudely turned away. The lead border guard, a Transmetal scorpion, curtly explains that an energon leak will prevent the Organic Maximals from passing through. After a word or two from the Predacons in the group, the guard concedes, warning the Organics to stay in beast mode. The group is forced to pass through an entry tunnel…one with autoguns trained to fire on organics. As the border guards press from behind, a pair of heavy mecha push the organics back into the tunnel. The Predacon prisoners finally turn on their captors...and so does Stampede, who's made a deal with the revolutionary group. Ravvok makes a mess out of Sellsword, but is taken out by the mecha behind him. Stalker, summing up the odds, helps the Predacons capture the heroes. Back at the greenhouse, the builders get a few visits: from Thundershot, looking for Pantora, and from Rattrap, who was "in the area" and wondering about Rhinox. The Beast Wars veterans discuss the current mystery: the disappearance of Optimus Primal. Thundershot listens in, but neither Maximal provides any clues. Rhinox is particularly distracted by his current project, and when Thundershot slinks away, Rattrap follows. Thundershot, however, has no leads. When he reports his lack of findings to the air commander, he sends his Lieutenant, Jetta, as an aid, and the blind leads the blind on a fruitless search through Silicon City. Rattrap, meanwhile, bar-hops and digs up the pertinent info on his own in only a few megacycles.
The infiltration group awakens in Predacon custody. The prisoners are taken to the brig, for now, and the Predacons repaired. Stampede is temporarily loose in the territory, but Stalker is more than eager to join up with the Predacon team. She is Transmetallized immediately.