Hello, this is a new idea I'm trying out, it's a sort of prequel to both Beast Wars and my story, New Beast Wars, it focuses on the protoforms of the Axalon before they came to be on Earth. Because of this, Optimus Prime, Rhinox, Rattrap and the Predacons of the Darksyde will not be main characters, but some of them might make cameo appearances. Anyway, I do not own Beast Wars, IDW Comics, The Transformers or any characters that are associated with The Transformers. Anyway, this chapter will feature Quickstrike and Silverbolt the day they have to board the Axalon. Well, I hope that you enjoy it, please don't forget to leave a review when you've finished and one last thing...Thank you for reading!

Quickstrike groaned and rubbed his head, he had a hangover that threatened to tear his head in two. Just the night before, he had been out checking out the bars of Cybertron. At some point, he had met another colonist, some little varmint named Ardee, who had invited him to join him on a night of drinking. Unfortunately for Quickstrike, that little rat Ardee had stiffed him with the bar tab by running off on the pretence of emptying his waste deposits.

"I'm gonna make that little varmint pay next time I see him..." Quickstrike muttered as he closed his optics and massaged his aching head.

Slowly, reluctantly, Quickstrike got up. He was a short Maximal, smaller than most, a fact which annoyed him to no end, as it frequently made him a target. His colour scheme was mainly gold, with patches of blue, mainly on his face and limbs. His optics were an amazing shade of blue, contrasting completely with is somewhat quick temperament. His vehicle mode was quite apparent, as two wheels jutted out of his shoulder blades, handlebars adorned his head and a windshield protruded out in front of his face (another thing which annoyed Quickstrike, as it made fuel intake rather difficult).

"Well, I suppose I'd better git goin'...stupid colonising, stupid hangover, stupid little varmint..." Quickstrike muttered as he made his way out his apartment and down into the bustling streets of Cybertron.

Elsewhere, another Maximal colonist, Silverbolt yawned and stretched as he finished his nightly recharging.

"Ah, another perfect morning. I wonder what today will bring me?" Silverbolt asked himself, a smile on his face.

He had always been a bright, optimistic Maximal, since the long gone days of his creation. Silverbolt believed he had a lot to be happy for, after all, he enjoyed his job, he was a direct descendant of an Autobot hero, he was his namesake and today, he would finally be going to help colonise a planet, somewhere far away. Another thing Silverbolt prided himself on was his appearance, he was a sleek, silver, Cybertronic jet, a fact which was quite obvious to even a casual glancer, as two large wings poked out of Silverbolt's legs, both adorned with the Maximal insignia, a pair of exhaust vents were on his shoulders and his vehicle mode nose was placed firmly on his back.

"Ah, good morning Cybertron! Alas, soon I shall depart, for other worlds! Other regions of space! Ah, but you shall always be in my heart, dear Cybertron, may we someday meet again!" Silverbolt said as he stared out his apartment window.

The Transformer in the apartment directly below rolled his optics, it was practically the same routine every day! Silverbolt would wake up, celebrate the morn, leave for work, return some hours later and rejoice at another so called "Perfect Day", before the whole cycle repeated itself in the morning. Now however, it looked like things would be different. Silverbolt was leaving, possibly for some distant corner of the universe, and he would almost certainly be gone for a number of stellar cycles.

Silverbolt's neighbour smiled at that thought.

At the shipyard, Quickstrike drove up to the to ship that he had been assigned to, the Axalon. The entire drive there had been one big ordeal for the motorcycle, he had to drive through mega cycles of traffic while his head pounded as painfully as an ick-yak. Now that he had finally arrived, Quickstrike began complaining again.

"That there's the Axalon? Jeez, what an eyesore! Ugh, so bright, it hurts to look at it!" Quickstrike muttered, unaware that three burly Maximals were approaching him.

"Hey, look here Blast Off! We've found somethin'!" The closet one called out to his friends.

"Heh, yeah Onslaught, it looks like a little shrimp!" The one known Blast Off replied with a smirk.

"Yech! I hate shellfish! The only thing they're good for is squashin' till the goo comes out!" The third said.

"Yeah Brawl. Hey, I've got an idea, how 'bout we squash this shrimp?" Onslaught suggested, a malicious grin on his face.

Quickstrike bristled "What did you just call me gasket face?"

Onslaught puffed himself up "Shrimp! I called you a shrimp! You gonna do somethin' about it?"

"Pardner, you don't know who you're messin with." Quickstrike said, glaring at the bigger Maximal, before he threw himself at him.

Not far away, Silverbolt landed inside of the shipyard after showing the nearby security officer his clearance card. Every gear in Silverbolt's body was bristling with anticipation, for very soon, he would be off colonising another planet! However, the smile on Silverbolt's mouth slowly disappeared when he heard something. It sounded like...some kind of fight.

"Jeez Blast Off, this little guy's crazy!" Silverbolt heard someone call out.

"He's like some kinda lunatic, Brawl!" Another voice called back.

Silverbolt hurried around a corner to see three large Maximals engaged in a fight with a noticeably smaller being. Despite the size and number advantage, the smaller one was fighting back viciously, striking his opponents with a fury that Silverbolt had never seen before. Suddenly however, one of them struck the smaller one with such force that he sent him reeling.

"Alright Brawl! Now, to make 'im pay!" One of them said.

"Stop!" Silverbolt commanded the others in a powerful voice.

The three large Maximals instantly stopped and turned around slowly. When they saw who they were dealing with however, they relaxed.

"Ah, it's no threat, just another one of them colonists!" Blast Off sneered.

"Still, maybe we better make sure he doesn't say anything." Onslaught said menacingly.

"You three are cowards! How can you gang up on a Maximal? One of your own! Besides, he's only a third your size!" Silverbolt asked, not at all intimidated by the trio.

"I ain't little!" The small one shouted, and proceeded to launch himself at the closest Maximal, Blast Off.

"Whoa! The little psycho's got me!" Blast Off cried out as he struggled against the diminutive Maximal.

"I told you! I ain't little! Just for that, I'm gonna gouge your optics out!" The small one snarled.

Silverbolt soon joined in, attacking Onslaught.

"Hey! Stay out of this!" Brawl said.

"Brawl you idiot! Get him off me!" Onslaught ordered.

Brawl swung a fist at Silverbolt, only to miss and strike Onslaught, who collapsed.

"Whoops..." Brawl said.

Now leaderless, Blast Off and Brawl quickly backed off, before fleeing.

"Are you alright?" Silverbolt asked the small Maximal, walking up to him and offering his hand.

"I didn't need any help!" The Maximal snarled, shoving Silverbolt's hand away.

"But...they outnumbered you three to one!" Silverbolt exclaimed.

"So? I still could a beat 'em!"

"You show impressive amounts of bravery and tenacity, please, tell me your name."

"It's Quickstrike, not that it's any of your business stranger!" Quickstrike said, walking away.

"Quickstrike? A fine name indeed! My name is Silverbolt!" Silverbolt said, rushing to keep up with Quickstrike.

"Yeah? I just met you, and I already dislike you!" Quickstrike snapped, not even glancing at Silverbolt.

"So, Quickstrike, where are you headed?" Silverbolt asked.

"Some colony ship called the Axalon, now beat it!"

Silverbolt stopped dead in his tracks "The Axalon?"

"Yeah, the Axalon, what's it to ya?" Quickstrike asked.

"Well, I've been assigned to the Axalon too!" Silverbolt exclaimed.

Now Quickstrike stopped "Wait, you mean...we'll be on the same ship? Together?"

"It would seem so! Oh, what good fortune!" Silverbolt said, another grin adorning his face.

"Oh no." Quickstrike muttered, as he closed his eyes and massaged his head.

"Come Quickstrike, I believe it's this way!" Silverbolt said as he led the way.

"Yeah, whatever." Quickstrike muttered as he half heartedly followed the chipper young Maximal.

"So, are you not excited at the prospect of exploring new worlds?" Silverbolt asked.

"No, I hate my job." Quickstrike replied, his brow furrowed in annoyance.

"You hate your job? Why?" Silverbolt asked, surprised that anyone could hate their job.

"Ain't enough action." Quickstrike replied.

"Hmmm, you display impressive combat prowess, why did you not become a member of the Maximal Command Security Force?" Silverbolt persisted on asking questions.

"Because those stupid varmints said that I was too aggressive! What does that mean anyway? Too aggressive? How in tarnation can you be "Too aggressive"?" Quickstrike asked.

"I...I don't know..." Silverbolt replied uncertainly "Ah! We seem to have arrived!"

"Oh...goody..." Quickstrike replied sarcastically as he and Silverbolt boarded the ship.

In the stasis pod bay, Quickstrike and Silverbolt wandered around. There were a few others in the bay with them, a tall, crimson mech, another jet, who was sitting down and polishing an enormous cannon and the one who immediately attracted the attention of Quickstrike and Silverbolt: An attractive femme, who like Quickstrike, converted into a motorcycle. She was bronze, although her helmet like head was black, as were her arms.

"Wh-who is that?" Silverbolt asked.

"Don't rightly know...but I want to." Quickstrike said as he drooled over her.

"She's the most beautiful Maximal I've ever seen!" Silverbolt murmured.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind doing some exploring around her, if you know what I mean!" Quickstrike nodded Silverbolt suggestively.

Silverbolt balked "Show some respect Quickstrike! She is after all a Maximal, like us."

"Yeah, sure, sure...I'm gonna go over there and talk to her." Quickstrike announced.

"You're not going to say something lewd, are you?" Silverbolt asked.

"What, me? 'Acourse not!" Quickstrike said defensively "Wish me luck pardner!"

"Uh...good luck..." Silverbolt said uncertainly as Quickstrike strolled over to the femme.

A few cycles later, Quickstrike was sent flying into a pile of crates, an action which attracted the attention of the other two in the room. The jet stopped polishing his weapon, looked up to see what had happened, and then went back to polishing his weapon, while the other strolled towards Quickstrike.

"Pig!" The femme called out to the dazed Quickstrike.

"Quickstrike! Are you alright? Do you still function?" Silverbolt asked his supposed friend.

"Uh...what hit me?" Quickstrike asked as he struggled to get into a standing position.

"Apparently, one very angry femme." The crimson mech said as he walked up to the pair.

"You're tellin' me pardner, what's her name?" Quickstrike asked.

"I have no idea, but I think it would be best if you didn't go over there again." The crimson mech replied.

"Indeed Quickstrike, but in fairness, I did warn you." Silverbolt said.

"Ah, shut up Silverbolt!" Quickstrike snapped.

"Do you need assistance to a CR chamber?" The crimson one asked.

"No, thank you, um...?"

"Inferno, my name is Inferno."

"Thank you Inferno, but I think Quickstrike will be just fine, as long as he doesn't do anymore foolish things." Silverbolt said.

Inferno nodded "Alright then, let me know if you need anything."

"We will, thank you Inferno." Silverbolt called out as Inferno strolled away "Well, he seemed nice."

"Yeah sure...hey, what in tarnations that thing over there?" Quickstrike asked, motioning towards a large protoforms branded with an X.

"I don't know, but I think we should stay away from it." Silverbolt said cautiously.

"Aw, shoot, you're no fun!" Quickstrike said.

"Attention all Maximals, we are preparing to leave Cybertron, all non necessary crew members are to report to the stasis bay at once and enter their respective stasis pods!" A voice over the ship's communications systems blared.

"Well, I guess we should do as he said." Silverbolt said.

"Do you ever have a thought of your own?" Quickstrike asked.

"Of course I do! I just like to obey my superiors, that's all." Silverbolt replied defensively.

"Right, whatever." Quickstrike said with a roll of his optics.

"Well, I guess I had better find my stasis pod, see you on the other side Quickstrike!" Silverbolt said, as he turned and waved.

"Yeah sure...here's hoping not..." Quickstrike muttered when Silverbolt was out of earshot.

"I wonder if we'll be friends?" Silverbolt whispered to himself as he entered his stasis pod.

And then, he fell into a deep darkness.

And end of this instalment. Well, what did you think? I hope that you liked it, and I hope that no one seemed...too much out of character. I thought that even before he was a Predacon, Quickstrike would still be a little vicious, and if not for Tarantulas, Inferno might be a little more...stable. Let me know what you think in the reviews please. Well, there you have it, hopefully this will be a series, maybe. Anyway, I sincerely hope that you enjoyed the story, please don't forget to leave a review now that you're done and finally, thank you for reading!