The morning sun was rising in the Oregon sky. It was so peaceful no one would have believed that only the night before, the skies had been glowing with laser blasts. The Autobots and the Decepticons had been fighting a desperate battle.

The Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, stood proud and triumphant. With his keen Autobot hearing he listened to the sound of birds singing. This Earth, he thought, is a strange planet with many interesting and amusing creatures. The Autobots had committed themselves to protecting Earth from the power and greed of the Decepticons.

Optimus Prime knew he had to stay alert and strong. This past battle they had just fought against the Decepticons was only a brief victory. Soon, the Decepticon leader, Megatron, would seek his cruel revenge.

Optimus Prime noticed that the sun was rising in the sky, almost eight o'clock Earth time. Time to get to work. He descended from the cliff down to the Autobot camp. There he found the brave and hard- working Autobots, Ratchet the physician, and Huffer the expert engineer, hard at work.

The faithful Autobots snapped to attention when they saw their leader enter the reconstruction area.

"What's the damage," he asked.

"Quite heavy, I'm afraid, We've lost a lot of parts," replied Huffer. "Bluestreak's rocket-firing mechanism is smashed. Sideswipe's fuel line is in five pieces. Trailbreaker has short circuit."

"And don't even ask about our fearless Dinobots," said Ratchet with a sigh. "They suffered the heaviest losses."

"The fought most courageously," said Optimus Prime sadly. "Will we recover?"

"Have no fear, we'll get the job done before you can say 'Decepticon Alert'!" said the two Autobots with great confidence.

The words of assurance were barely spoken when all three, Optimus Prime, Huffer, and Ratchet felt their audio transmitters triggered. They quickly climbed up from the spacecraft and scanned the landscape.

Quickly they looked up to where overhead jet fighters screamed across the deep blue sky. How could the Decepticons have restored their warriors so quickly? But there was no mistake! This was the real thing!

As they gazed upward, Red Alert raced around the Autobot camp crying out the warning: 'Decepticon Alert!" The Autobots were stunned. This could be their last stand against the Decepticons. With so many of the Autobots still in need of repair and the Dinobots so badly damaged, the Autobots felt powerless to defend themselves against this attack.

Optimus Prime was the only Autobot who was not alarmed. He knew that even Megatron had his limits. He knew this must be a trick. But what was Megatron up to this time?

The jets roared in a circle over the Autobot camp but never fired. They're conserving what little fuel they have, thought Optimus Prime.

As Optimus Prime watched the Decepticon jets play their air strike games, a message was received from Shooting Star. From his position in orbit around the Earth, Shooting Star had been watching helplessly. Whenever the fighting got too rough, Shooting Star would change orbits and flee from the site of the destruction. He couldn't stand being so helpless. But this time he could help. He activated his ship-to-ground radio and began his message.

"To all Autobots with satellite receivers. Hear this," radioed Shooting Star. "Thiry-five miles northeast from camp is a stranded oil truck. Two Earth beings outside vehicle. Decepticon Blitzwing speeding toward truck. End of relay."

So that was their trickery! The Decepticons were distracting the Autobots so that Megatron and his evil forces could steal the oil from this truck to refuel themselves for battle. The Autobots knew that if Megatron seized the oil truck they would attack again very soon.

Optimus Prime commanded all available forces to the scene. Bumblebee, Sunstreaker, Prowl, Mirage and Optimus Prime transformed into their car and truck modes and sped Northeast to Route 4. Ratchet and Huffer returned to the Reconstruction Area.

Meanwhile, in a lonely spot on Route 4, Abe Walters and his buddy, Barry, stood outside their truck scratching their heads.

"This is the weirdest thing," said Abe.

"Yeah, it's like the whole electrical system just short- circuited."

They didn't know that Blitzwing had used his electron scimitar to short-circuit the truck's wiring while they had stopped to fix a flat.

The men didn't see Blitzwing lurking behind the truck. He had changed into his robot mode.

"Where is that blasted Bombshell?" he grumbled with impatience. Just then Bombshell landed behind Blitzwing. "It's about time, you bug," scolded Blitzwing.

"We'll have these jokers under our control in no time. Once I sink my cerebro shells into them, they'll be our slaves."

Megatron arrived next with Long Haul and Ravage.

"Ready Decepticons?" he asked with a sneer. "I want that oil. That truck holds our advantage over Optimus Prime and his band of do-gooders. With the oil we can defeat the Autobots and rule Earth forever. Get ready for hook-up, Long Haul. Get ready to sting those Earthlings, Bombshell."

As the wheels of Megatron's evil plan began to turn, the Autobots arrived.

Optimus Prime called Prowl to the side. "What do you make of all this?" he asked.

"I'd say the first thing we should do is get those two Earthlings away from the Decepticons."

"I'll just send a blast of energy to that truck," said Sunstreaker. He aimed his gun at the truck and fired high-energy electron pulses at the cab. The energy gave the truck's circuiting the boost it needed. All of a sudden, the windshield wipers began to slap, the lights blinked and the horn began to honk.

"What the heck is going on here?" asked Abe in surprise.

"I don't know, but let's get moving," answered Barry, climbing into the truck.

Megatron was furious! "After them, Decepticons," he roared. Blitzwing turned into a tank and drove after them. Bombshell stayed in bug form and followed. Megatron and Ravage were right behind. The Autobots transformed back into their vehicle modes and joined the chase. The oil truck drove on unsuspectingly.

Megatron caught up with the truck and grabbed it from behind. The wheels spun for a while and then the truck stopped dead. The Decepticons seized it. "I don't believe this!" yelled Barry. Suddenly an amazing sight appeared in the horizon. At the incredible speed of 250 miles per hour, the Dinobot Swoop flew into sight.

The mere sight of this Pterodactyl was enough to send fear through the small Decepticon force. Swoop dove low. Megatron fired but missed. This enraged the mild-mannered Swoop. Swoop dropped an air-to-air missile launcher with the power of 5000 pounds of TNT.

The Decepticons were crushed into a pile of metal rubble while Megatron's alarm frequency blared, commanding rescue forces to the scene.

The Autobots cheered for their friend, Swoop. In their robot modes they walked to the cab of the truck and looked inside.

"Are the Earthlings dead?" asked Bumblebee, not sure if he wanted an answer to that question. Optimus Prime waved his hand over the two men to read their energy output.

"No," he said with a smile. "They've just fainted." The Autobots laughed together.

"Who can blame them," said Mirage. "I nearly fainted when I saw you roaring through the sky like a wild beast from primitive Earth. Sure glad you're on our side, Swoop."

Swoop was shy and took this compliment humbly.

"Just doing my job. My duty is to help Optimus Prime and the Autobot cause," answered Swoop.

Suddenly the Decepticon warrior Starscream flew overhead. "If we can't have the oil, you won't get it either," he screamed. Starscream then fired his cluster bombs on the truck and flew away.

The Autobots carried the two unconscious men from truck in the nick of time. The truck exploded, sending huge pieces of metal flying into the air. The oil burst into wild and uncontrolled flames.

After transforming into their car modes, the Autobots returned to their camp with Optimus Prime busy trying to figure a way to explain to these poor, shocked Earthlings just what had happened.

Meanwhile a small rescue squadron of Decepticons carried off the metal remains of Megatron, Ravage, Bombshell, Long Haul, and Blitzwing.

Smoke from the oil fire blew into the Oregon sky. It was a grim reminder of the greed that ruled the hearts of the Decepticons. The Autobot Inferno was sent out in his fire truck mode to keep the fire under control.

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