"Maximals -- break some heads!"
Writer - Simon Furman / Art - Don Figuroa / Letters - Tom B. Long / Colors - Josh Burcham
On high-altitude reconaissance, Sky Shadow finds the hillside cave where Razorbeast's Maximals are camped. He reports this to Ravage, who summons the Predacons to converge for a strike. Meanwhile, at Magmatron's field biouvac, the Autobot-turned-Maximal Grimlock is handily dismembering Drill Bit and Iguanus. While Magmatron fights Grimlock, Optimus Minor sneaks in and steals the extra chrono-phase controller (seen from last issue).
In the Maximal camp, Snarl frets about trying to get their jury-rigged transwarp communicator to get, despite B'Boom's skepticism. Wolfang tries to reassure him, but the Maximals are unaware that Ravage's team is preparing to strike. And at the bivouac, Magmatron manages to defeat Grimlock by separating into his three component forms. As he verified the transporter is still counting down, Magmatron is challenged by Razorbeast, and vows to take the traitor down...
In the cave, as Wolfang tries to record a message in the communicator's short limit, the hill suddenly shakes under a Predacons bombardment! While Snarl stays behind to transmit the message, the others charge out -- straight into the phallanx of Predacons!
As Razorbeast stands idle, Magmatron strikes -- but his blow swings harmlessly through! Razorbeast materializes nearby and fires back, revealing that he's now using the stolen chrono-phase device to make himself invisible and intangible to Magmatron at will. As Razorbeast keeps gunning at Magmatron, Optimus Minor removes the chrono-phaser off Megatron, putting him out of phase with the transporter. Before Magmatron can recover, the transporter activates, sending itself -- and Magmatron -- back to present-day Cybertron!
With their superior numbers, Ravage's Predacons herd the Maximals into a kill zone and prepare to gun them down. Just then, a thunderous roar shakes the forest as the titanic General Torca leads the other resurrected Maximals (last seen briefly in issue #2) to the rescue! With their help, the Maximals quickly drive the Predacons into a hasty retreat.
After the battle, the Maximals rescue Snarl, who confirms the message was sent, though he doesn't know if anyone will receive it. The Maximals then begin to establish a permant base, in preparation for when Ravage and the Predacons will strike again. But even weeks afterwards, Razorbeast wonders if he should have stopped the helpless Megatron when he had the chance. Prowl reassures him that he did the right thing by not interfering with history, that they must now fight their own separate Beast Wars...
The Beast Wars:
As Magmatron prepares to return to Cybertron with the captive Megatron, Razorbeast and Optimus Minor's bid to stop him is boosted by the sudden arrival of Grimlock. Elsewhere, Razorbeast's Maximal militia -- trying urgently to get a message back to Cybertron via a cobbled-together Transwarp Signal Booster -- is unaware that their hidden base has been spotted by Ravage's Predacon hunting party...
The gathering continues...