Equal Measures

Dinobot manipulates both Maximals and Predacons around a teleporter that Cheetor has unintentionally developed between both bases.

Summary
Primal watches a bolt of lightning shatter a mountain, revealing a cache of Energon. Because of the hazardous conditions, he radios to his team to abort their current operation. The storm garbles the transmission, though, preventing the other Maximals from receiving it. The mission, by the way, involves energon monitoring devices, designed by Rhinox, who has just gotten done building the last of them. Impatient to get going, Cheetor carelessly plays with one of Dinobot's projects - a time bomb - and accidentally drops it out the floor hatch...where it's caught by a returning Primal, who reiterates his order for the mission to be scrubbed. Everyone's clearly upset over the development, not believing the storm to be that severe, yet, but Primal is adamant; it'll have to wait until later. Dejected, everyone returns to quarters to wait out the storm.

In Cheetor's quarters, Dinobot meets with the catbot and endorses the mission being continued regardless of the danger from the weather and the Energon; he points out that Primal clearly treats Cheetor like a child, and with his speed, the catbot could easily outrun the storm and plant the devices before it hits. This appeal to vanity works, and Cheetor sneaks out to complete the mission.

In the field, he plants survey apparatuses in quick succession, but a bolt of lightning causes the cat to accidentally plant one of the posts dangerously close to an energon vein. He tries to remove the device and correct his mistake, but in the middle of struggle a second lighting bolt hits, and he finds himself suddenly teleported - onto a control panel in the Predacon base!

Terrorsaur welcomes Cheetor and attacks the Maximal, but Cheetor grabs a hover-platform and tries to escape. After being knocked off the platform, Cheetor lunges at Terrorsaur and pushes the Predacon onto the control panel the Maximal arrived on, causing Terrorsaur to vanish. Scorponok and Waspinator arrive and chase Cheetor around the Predacon base, but lose him in the Darksyde's ventilation shafts.

Meanwhile, Terrorsaur finds himself in the Axalon command center, where he's given a warm reception by Dinobot. However, the former Predacon is more concerned over how the pteranodon arrived, eventually working out that a freak combination of the survey devices, the storm, and the energon created a transporter link between the two bases. Using this to his advantage, Terrorsaur seems to convince Dinobot into forming an alliance, swearing to rid themselves of both factions and rule together...until Dinobot drops the charade and unceremoniously flushes the Pred out of the Axalon through a waste disposal unit.

Back on the Darksyde, Cheetor continues to run through the Predacon base, avoiding fire from Waspinator. He sneaks away from the two long enough to determine that both bases sit on a common underground Energon vein - an explosion at one base would cause a chain reaction that would obliterate both ships. Cheetor is discovered as soon as he outputs this data to a disk.

On the Maximal base, Primal confronts Dinobot on Cheetor's whereabouts; Dinobot tells him about the link and how the catbot has "surely" been destroyed by now, but convinces him that they could use the link to annihilate the Pred base with the bomb, a plan Primal only agrees to as long as the bomb's timer is set with enough time to allow the Preds to evacuate. Just as the bomb is sent, though, Cheetor tosses the disk with the data on the energon vein onto the console, transporting both items simultaneously. Cheetor is cornered just then, but by that time, the bomb has magnetically locked itself onto the Pred console, forcing the Preds to let the catbot go so he can release it. With a few seconds left, Cheetor throws it up to Terrorsaur, who flies it out of the base (and is blown up with it), while Cheetor escapes through the link...just as he's shot at by the Preds, the errant shots destroying the console instead. Furthermore, his return trip to the Axalon shatters all of the survey posts he's planted, ensuring the link is severed for good.

Afterwards, Rhinox and Rattrap congratulate Cheetor's prevention of the Maximal base from being destroyed by their own explosive. But Primal commands Cheetor to take more care to obey direct orders. Cheetor says he will (except when he doesn't) and scampers off - leaving Rhinox and Rattrap to have a jolly laugh.

Quotes
"Cheetor! Maximi- did that already."
 * -- Cheetor

Scorponok: He's gone into the vents! You better report this to Megatron. Waspinator: Me?! You're second-in-command! Scorponok: So make it an order!

Terrorsaur: Hey! What are you doing? We're partners! Dinobot: In case you haven't noticed, Needle Nose... I am not a team player.

Stat
Writers: Greg Johnson Original air date: September 23, 1996

Characters (in order of appearance): Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Rattrap, Dinobot, Cheetor, Terrorsaur, Waspinator, Scorponok, Megatron

Minor characters (in order of appearance): Characters

Technical/Animation glitches

 * Glitch

Continuity errors
By season 2 most of the earth's energon has been stabilised, explaining later explosions.
 * A major plot point is that due to a Energon vein running beneath both ships, the destruction of either Predacon or Maximal bases would destroy the other. This is never mentioned again and frequently contradicted due to the repeated explosions at both.

Transformers references

 * Terrorsaur states "Welcome to the dark side." - although scripts reveal this was only meant as him being dramatic, the name Darksyde was officially made the name of the ship in the videogame Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals and had it's unique spelling defined at Botcon 2006
 * However, at no point has anybody interpreted Dinobot's line as suggesting the Maximal base be called "Enemy Arms"