"For centuries now, the planets Xetaxxis and Lanarq have been engaged in a senseless and brutal struggle. Xetaxxis has been nearly destroyed by Lanarq attacks while Lenarq has suffered equal devastation. Both civilizations will be extinct within one more generation -unless these negotiations bring peace."
The battles are revealed to have all been taken from recorded footage, being shown at a peace conference. Rodimus Prime thanks Melkorr for the happy news, as Spike asks for the envoys of both planets to shake hands, and resolve to see the process through.They shake hands, but quickly get into a fight. Rodimus doesn't think this is how a peace process is supposed to begin.
Meanwhile, the Quintesson journal has landed on a planet. Out in space, Predaking picks up a strange signal and contacts Chaar. Cyclonus responds and asks what he's calling about, and Predaking says he's going to investigate a signal in sector 9. The signal is an old Quintesson frequency. Cyclonus says he'll join him at its source, and tells him to on alert, as the Autobots may have also received the signal -so there is a probability of combat.
Predaking is pleased to hear that, and heads towards the planet. On Cybertron, Perceptor has also picked up the signal, and contacts Sky Lynx. He tells him where the source of the signal is and says it may be serious, as the signal is an old Quintesson frequency. Sky Lynx says he's locked onto the signal, and will trace it for him.
Sky Lynx arrives at the planet, but says a surface scan isn't revealing a clearing anywhere, so he can't land. He tells the Autobots inside him -Outback, Ramhorn, Steeljaw and Blaster -that he'll have to drop them off. As they head out, he says he'll track them from above.
The Autobots land in a jungle and head out. Meanwhile, Predaking has also landed on the planet and wants to make more progress, so he transforms back to the individual Predacons. As the Autobots continue on...
...Outback and Blaster are suddenly attacked by a bunch of vines. Steeljaw helps get them free by biting the vines and ripping them apart.
The Predacons make good progress by simply bashing down anything that gets in their way, but the Autobots arrive at the source of the signal first. The signal is coming from the Quintesson journal itself, but the Autobots don't know what it is. Sky Lynx is still following them, when he accidentally crashes into a tree.
The tree is going to fall onto the journal, but Outback blasts it before it can do so. However, some debris hits the journal, causing it to activate.
A hologram of a Quintesson appears, and the Autobots watch as the Quintesson says this is a playback of journal 1122, containing items 379-MW through 793-BQ of the Quintesson journal -a complete record of their commercial enterprises, technical plans, and special projects.
Before the hologram can continue, Rampage leaps through it, as he and the other Predacons arrive and attack. The Autobots fight back and Sky Lynx bashes into Divebomb. The Predacons then transform into Predaking. He wants revenge on Sky Lynx...
...as Sky Lynx asks him if one thorough drubbing wasn't enough. As they battle each other, Outback gets the journal and tells Sky Lynx to get them out of here. He quickly lands and the Autobots board him, before taking off just before Predaking tries to charge into him.
As the Autobots leave the planet, Cyclonus and the other Decepticons see them and start firing. But then a green beam hits Sky Lynx, pulling him through a warp gate.
He gets dragged into a Quintesson ship. The Autobots get out and are immediately attacked by the Quintessons. One of the Quintessons says they hope they find their accommodations comfortable.
The Autobots get blasted by a beam, which causes them to levitate. Outback asks what are they going to do with Sky Lynx, and is told Sky Lynx can't transform at the moment, so he can wait here. But the other Autobots are thrown into a cell. One of the Quintessons thanks the Autobots for retrieving this segment of their journal.
As the Quintessons leave, Blaster tries the bars, but can't get through them. Outback comes up with a plan, and tells the Sharkticon guard that he looks like he could do with a little energon. He presents him with an energon cube, but says the bars present a problem. The Sharkticon deactivates the bars and tells them to give him the energon, at which point Blaster shoots him.
Blaster asks if that was as easy as he thought it was, and Outback says to ask him once they're back on Cybertron. As the Autobots move out, Outback tells Blaster to make sure Sky Lynx is ready to launch. As they head off, Outback grabs the journal. Blaster asks Sky Lynx if he can fly, and he says he thinks so, but he can't transform whilst in range of the Quintesson's disrupters.
The Autobots all board Sky Lynx, who takes off and crashes his way out of the Quintesson ship. But moments later, the Decepticons appear, and Galvatron has joined them. He says to show no mercy, as they blow a hole in Sky Lynx.
The Autobots tumble out into space, along with the journal. Cyclonus grabs it and says to prepare to depart, but Predaking wants to kill Sky Lynx. Galvatron tells him he says who dies and when, as Cyclonus says the Quintessons are close by. Predaking reminds Galvatron he said no mercy, as Galvatron says that's true, and he'll show none -as he punches Predaking.
The Autobots fire at the Decepticons, but Galvatron orders a retreat. Meanwhile, back at the peace conference...
...things aren't going well. Neither side is getting along, and don't want to talk any more. One of the Xetaxxans says to let their actions speak for them now. A Lanarqan says they'll respond in kind. Spike says this might be a good time for a break, and Rodimus agrees, since everyone has already left anyway.
The Xetaxxans head into another room and contact the Quintessons, and want to know when their ultimate weapon will arrive. The Quintessons says their ship has encountered turbulence in space, causing shipment of their ultimate weapon to be delayed, but is now en route to them. The Xetaxxans are pleased, unaware that the Lanarqans have been told exactly the same thing, as the Quintessons are also providing them with an ultimate weapon. Both sides believe their enemies will be defeated soon.
The Decepticons land on a planet that Cyclonus says appears on no charts, so they can examine the device undisturbed. He tells Predaking to activate it, but Predaking doesn't know how the Autobots made it play. Galvatron says it's useless unless they can playback, and angrily throws it to the ground.
This causes the journal to turn on, as a Quintesson hologram appears and starts to explain about item 457: planet Tixlara. Galvatron thinks this is it -the secrets of the Quintessons are theirs! The hologram says that a large fleet of Quintesson transport vessels were sold to Tixlara. The primitive nuclear fuel requirements drained the planet's mineral resources, bringing the Tixlarian economy under Quintesson control. Galvatron thinks this is useless!
The hologram then explains about how they supplied manufacturing facilities to the planet Alaxuu. These facilities were designed to create atmospheric pollutant imbalance, and the resulting isotopic rains destroyed all of the vegetation. They then replaced the vegetation with plant-o-bots, at a substantial profit.
Galvatron hits the journal, and the hologram plays back item 793-BQ: the manipulation of the continuing war between Xetaxxis and Lanarq. The Decepticons realize these are the two planets the galactic council is trying to negotiate a cease fire. Nearby, the Autobots have arrived, and have heard everything.
Outback bets they'd love to have that journal at the peace conference. As the hologram is talking about how they've sold armaments to both sides, the Autobots begin their attack. Galvatron says doom to the intruders, and leads the Decepticons into battle.
A Quintesson ship appears, and as the two sides are busy battling each other, a Quintesson is easily able to retrieve the journal.
The ship heads out into space, as the Transformers spot it. They all head after the Quintessons, but Galvatron tells the weakling Autobots to give up -the Quintesson journal is theirs!
Outback tells him to guess again, as the two sides resume fighting. Meanwhile, the Quintesson ship returns to the larger ship. Back at the peace conference...
...no progress is being made. The Autobots have to break the two sides up, but above the planet, the fleets of the two sides start firing at each other.
This results in the conference building getting hit, but neither the Xetaxxans or Lanarqans care -they just want their ultimate weapons. Each side goes away to contact the Quintessons, who confirm that their weapons are on the way.
However, the Quintessons are then attacked by the Decepticons. The Quintessons debate over using one of the two omega bombs they're carrying, but decide not to when they realize that'd be wasteful -one of those things could vaporize a planet, but more importantly, it would mean vaporizing half their profits.
They decide to elude the Decepticons, by activating a warp gate and going through it. They arrive at Xetaxxis and Lanarq, and decided they need to do a simultaneous delivery of the weapons, as both planets must survive long enough for them to get paid.
However, Sky Lynx has also gone through the warp gate, and tears apart part of the Quintesson's ship. He grabs the journal, and Outback tells him to head to the peace conference.
At the conference, Rodimus tries to get the two sides to come back to the table, and as they start fighting yet again, he grabs their envoys and forces them to take seats. Rodimus says the conference is reconvened.
But the two sides says never, and still want to kill each other. They start to fight again, but stop when Sky Lynx crashes through a wall. Blaster asks if this is a peace conference or a slam dance party.
Outback activates the journal, as the Quintesson hologram explains that in the third stage, medium-powered hand weapons were sold to both Xetaxxis and Lanarq. Higher profit margins were not achieved until the sale of interplanetary weapons.
As the two sides realize they have been fighting for the benefit of the Quintesson's profit margins, as the hologram continues. It says that fleet sales of warships increased their profits by a factor of five. Newer weapons sold to Xetaxxis generated equalizing sales to Lanarq, and vice versa. Quintesson profits from the Lanarq-Xetaxxis war have increased steadily for centuries -a textbook case.
The two sides realize they've endured these horrors, just so the Quintessons could profit. A Quintesson then contacts them and says congratulations -it has taken them only a few thousand years to comprehend their folly. He tells them as a reward, they'll give them their ultimate weapons as promised, armed and set to explode on impact. Everyone then sees the Quintesson ship in space.
Rodimus and Ultra Magnus get on Sky Lynx, who flies out into space. They catch up to the ship before it releases either of the bombs. Rodimus and Magnus start firing at it...
...and it gets hit, sending it crashing into an asteroid, where it explodes. Later on, the Lanarqan leader says he still doesn't like the Xetaxxans. The Xetaxxan leader says they don't like them either, but they like a pointless war even less.
They agree that they will live on their own worlds. Rodimus guesses they won't be the best of friends, but at least the shooting is over. Magnus says they'd better lock the journal up on Cybertron, but thinks it's sad how the Xetaxxans and Lanarqan were at war with each other for centuries. Rodimus says the only winners were the Quintessons.
NOTES
-The Secret Files segment for this episode is about Metroplex and Trypticon.
-In theory, this is the sequel to The Big Broadcast of 2006, but was unfortunately broadcast before it. I say "in theory" because the Quintesson journal is colored yellow here, and in the other episode, it's purple. One of the Quintessons thanks the Autobots for "retrieving this segment of our journal" which hints there are multiple segments to it.
-In the dialogue script, Melkorr is called "moderator", despite Rodimus calling him by his actual name. Melkorr is only present very briefly at the start of the episode, talking about the war between the two sides.
-This episode was animated by AKOM, and in addition to their usual error-laden work, they bring something new to the table:
Incomplete character cells! Several times throughout the episode, parts at the bottom of characters aren't visible at all.