The next day, the Decepticons, led by Megatron, made their way through the darkened and empty streets, flying low over the main route that led north-west into Kalis. Only a small team of recruits had been left behind to monitor communications and security back at the Kolkular fortress, supervised by Shockwave, since most Decepticon mech-power had been diverted to Kalis in anticipation of a possible confrontation with the Autobots and their Jarrian allies.

When they arrived at the cybertonium deposit, they immediately took up their positions around the mine, and then waited. Due to the progress of the planet-wide shutdown, they no longer needed to contend with unruly mobs or protesters – the majority of whom had been rounded up by Autobot forces and escorted to the nearest check point, where they would then be placed into stasis if the shutdown proceeded to enter into the next phase.

"So, this is what a Great Shutdown looks like," Skywarp commented. "Everything's just stopped. It's kind of eerie."

"Not quite as eerie as a full-scale zombie invasion," Thundercracker replied, "though it comes close."

It wasn't long before the first sign of activity disturbed the unnatural quietnes – an alien ship, followed by a small fleet of fighter craft, became visible on the horizon, approaching their location, crossing over the Rust Sea from the direction of the main space port. A convoy of vehicles also appeared, speeding along the main thoroughfare connected to Tagon Heights – the Autobots, led by the large form of Sentinel Prime's alt mode – a heavy, modified tank.

The Decepticons stood their ground, even when the ship landed in front of them and a large number of Jarrians – approximately twice as many as there had been the day before – emerged from the main craft to meet with Sentinel Prime and the Autobots at their agreed rendezvous point. It was plain to see that among them were Jarrian foot soldiers who carried weapons, while the rest consisted of the same mining team of the day before, only this time, Jala commanded them. The fleet of fighter jets remained in the air, circling and hovering at low speeds but keeping a good distance away.

The Jarrian delegate exchanged a few heated words with Sentinel Prime, before the leader of the Autobots approached Megatron, but the Decepticon leader showed no signs of being intimidated by either the Autobots or their foreign allies.

"This is your final warning, Megatron. Leave, now," Sentinel told him, before his tone softened somewhat. "Please, save yourselves the embarrassment of having to be forcibly removed in front of our allies."

Standing beside Megatron with his arms crossed in front of him, Starscream responded without hesitation. "Not a chance, Sentinel Prime. Tell your so-called allies that they can either go back to their home world willingly, or we'll force them to leave. What's it going to be?"

The Prime tried to ignore the Decepticon Air Commander to instead focus his attention on Megatron, but if he had been expecting a different response from him, then he was very quickly disappointed. He shook his head in frustration. "Very well, have it your way. But never say I didn't warn you!" he rebuked them harshly, before turning and walking brusquely back to Jala and his entourage.

Less than a minute later, the Jarrian soldiers began to approach the Decepticons, quickly closing the distance between them on foot, their laser blasters raised and aimed at the rebels. At the same time, the fleet of fighter jets fell into a combat spread formation and began heading towards them.

Onslaught transformed into his anti-aircraft truck alt mode, aiming his photon missile launcher at the air-borne targets. Vortex and Blast Off transformed and took to the air, while the rest of the Combaticons and the triple-changers created an impenetrable barrier against the ground army.

"Surrender!" one of the Jarrian sergeants yelled out, motioning for his mechs to surround the mine.

"Sorry, but we don't understand what that means," Astrotrain retorted, and a moment later, ten soldiers came charging towards him, firing their laser blasters. He countered their move with his ionic displacer rifle, watching as the ionic charge sent two of the mechs flying backwards.

There was an eruption of weapons fire as the Jarrians began their assault, targeting the Decepticons from all sides, both on the ground and in the air.

The Decepticons reacted in less than a split second. The seekers, led by Starscream, quickly transformed and took to the air, circling around the Jarrian crafts on either side and targeting each with torpedoes. The crafts turned and banked steeply, locking their targeting systems on to the Decepticon seekers in pursuit before firing off several missiles. However, the seekers avoided being hit by the warheads, weaving and dodging away from the trajectories with ease.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons on the ground responded to the Jarrian army of foot soldiers by laying down heavy covering fire, taking them all by surprise and scattering them in all directions. The Autobots, in particular, looked on in disbelief; with their available energy severely limited, they could only form a secondary line of defense behind the Jarrians.

Prowl and Ironhide led a small team of Autobots around the mine, intending to secure its rear entry point, but were greeted by a group of Decepticons standing just inside the entrance.

"Stand down peacefully, and no one needs to get hurt," Prowl told them. He recognized them as the Constructicons – the same ones who had formed the giant combiner to rid Iacon of the Nemesis Army.

"But, if we do that, how do you expect us to protect our cybertonium deposits?" one of them, their leader, said in a facetious manner.

"Look, it's not your cybertonium," Prowl told him impatiently. He tried to ignore the sounds of distant torpedoes and weapons blasts being fired, but he was already distracted by the fact that due to the energy crisis, the Autobots would not be able to sustain a prolonged conflict.

"It's more ours than theirs," the Constructicon pointed out, indicating towards the Jarrians nearby.

Prowl raised his weapon at the six green and purple mechs and hoped that he would not be forced to use it, while the Autobots who were with him, six in all, copied his action. He was well aware of the fact that if they were not able to stop the Decepticons from interfering in official business – they desperately required that shipment of crystals – then it would all be a lost cause, anyway. "Can't you see what you're doing – this is a mistake!" he blurted out in frustration.

"You're right – this is a mistake," the Constructicon responded. Then six fully charged weapons were suddenly being aimed directly back at Prowl and his team.

Neither the Autobots nor the Jarrians had expected the Decepticons to be able to respond with such great force and firepower, or to have superior forms of weaponry at their disposal, which they used with such readiness and ease that Sentinel could not comprehend just how it was even possible, considering that they all found themselves right in the middle of a planet-wide shutdown. Even with greater numbers than the Decepticons, it soon became apparent that the Jarrians would not be able to avoid an embarrassing defeat, no matter how much more prepared they were than the previous day.

Sentinel Prime soon came to the sobering realization that the only reason both the Jarrians and the Autobots had not yet been completely decimated in this battle was because of the Decepticons' mercifulness, and not for a lack of capability – it truly appeared that they were not after a massacre, but only to dissuade the Jarrians from ever asserting any dominion over the planet or its precious resources. Not only had Megatron meant what he had told him at the space port, but it was also now apparent that he clearly had the means to back up his intentions.

Megatron and his group of loyal Decepticons continued to color the air with laser blasts and photon missiles, quickly overpowering and outgunning the hostile army of Jarrian soldiers until they had no other choice but to retreat and take cover inside their mother ship, while the Autobots did what they could to maintain their own positions and dignity, helping the wounded escape the mayhem and guiding them to safety, every now and again firing a couple of shots back at the Decepticons.

It was a similar story in the air. The small Jarrian fleet was not able to match the Decepticons' superior maneuverability or skill, as the teams of seekers quickly took out the engines of the non-sentient jets yet allowed the fighter pilots to eject from their crafts just before they crashed into the ground, leaving heavy trails of smoke until they burst into flames upon impact.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Sentinel ordered, brushing past a dejected Jala, holding up both hands to indicate his intention for both the Autobots and the Decepticons alike. In response, Megatron gave the signal for the Decepticons to stop firing, and moments later, the sound of weapons blasts died down. The battleground soon became still, and only the low moans of injured mechs, as well as energy weapons being powered down, could be heard. The aerial team circled around and then returned to the ground, transforming back to robot mode. Onslaught and his team also returned to their normal forms, as did the triple-changers.

Once he was certain the fighting had stopped, Sentinel turned and walked back to join Jala, who was outraged, not to mention extremely embarrassed by their surprise defeat.

Jala spoke first. "You should have done something about these – these meddling outlaws – much sooner, when your Autobots had the chance! Mark my words, Sentinel Prime, your Elders will most certainly be hearing about this–"

"Just take your company, and leave," Sentinel said, cutting him off quickly, and before the Jarrian had a chance to respond, Sentinel stepped away again, returning to face the Decepticons once more.

"Well, you've just sealed our fate, and brought the Great Shutdown upon us all," Sentinel said harshly, expressing his own grievance towards his former military advisor. "I must admit, I do not know how you did it, Megatron, but I certainly hope that you are now happy."

Megatron gave nothing away with his expression, maintaining an unemotional façade. "Oh, very." Then, when Scrapper and the Constructicons emerged from behind the mine to rejoin the rest of the Decepticons, he hinted at a smile. Soon after, Prowl and his team also emerged, walking past until they stood beside the Prime, unharmed though looking quite dejected. "How about a little demonstration for the Prime – Soundwave?"

The blue and white Decepticon stepped forwards and, as they all watched, his chest compartment began to glow brightly until an astro-second later, a glowing, transparent cube constructed of solid energon emerged from his chest compartment. When the process was complete, the cube dropped lightly to the ground.

"What–?" Sentinel looked on in puzzlement, and for a moment, he was unsure of the Decepticons' intentions, bracing himself for further hostility. Behind him, several of the Autobots had stopped to watch the demonstration, their attention transfixed upon Soundwave and the cube. Even a handful of Jarrians, who still lingered behind as they slowly returned to their ship, couldn't help but stop to watch.

The Constructicon leader nodded at Soundwave, and then prompted his team mate. "Mixmaster?"

Immediately, the chemist transformed into his mixer alt mode and positioned himself so that the outlet from his mixer tank was directly over the cube. A moment later, pink, velvety fuel began to pour out of his chute and straight into the cube. When it was completely filled, he stopped and transformed back into robot mode. "It's one hundred percent pure energon – made just this morning," he explained delightedly to a very bewildered crowd of onlookers. As he did so, Scrapper picked up the large cube and held it out to Sentinel Prime.

"Take it. We have more than enough energon for you and your Autobots in Iacon to avoid stasis – at least until you can secure an alternative source of crystals," Megatron prompted, as Sentinel continued to stare at the cube in Scrapper's hands while he slowly reached out to take it.

"It might be weeks before we are able to come across another opportunity for a full shipment… perhaps even months!" Sentinel began, still frustrated despite the small gift. "What do you expect us to do in the meantime?"

"I am willing to send you more of this energon, until then – so long as you can promise us that our planet's natural resources, including all the cybertonium, remains under Cybertronian control, of course," Megatron replied, making sure that Sentinel understood his terms. "So, do we have a deal, Sentinel Prime?"

"I…" Sentinel was about to protest, claiming that he had no authority to sanction any such deal with him, but then he reconsidered. As Prime Commander of the Autobot army and carrier of the Matrix of Leadership he did, in fact, possess executive powers under Cybertronian military law, which allowed him to take any emergency action against any foreign threat, as he deemed necessary. A potential invasion by outside forces such as the Jarrians, brought on by an imminent shutdown, could certainly be construed as a foreign threat. If the Council didn't like his decision, then they would need to prove his incompetence in a public trial, a process which they would be unwilling to instigate considering the unlikelihood of an outcome in their favor. "Very well, then. We have a deal."

"Excellent. I will have more energon delivered to you tomorrow." Megatron gave him a final nod. As he turned to leave, Sentinel called out after him.

"Wait – how on Cybertron were you able to procure this energon?"

Megatron paused for a moment. "That information must remain with us. I am sure you can appreciate the reasoning behind my precaution, Sentinel Prime," he replied, before walking away.