CHARACTER GOALS -- THE MAXIMALS
The main goals of the Maximals are to survive, to prevent the Predacons from gaining control of Energon and to locate and rescue those members of their original ship who may still be scattered in stasis pods all over the planet.
Unfortunately, the Energon fields prevent their being able to track down the stasis pods over any sort of distance. Only up close can they be detected, and they may have to be almost stumbled upon.
The Maximals are not reaction-only heroes, however. If they can defeat and capture the Predacons through a surprise attack they will do it.
CHARACTER GOALS -- THE PREDACONS
The Predacons chief goal is galactic conquest and with the raw power of Energon crystals they could easily do it. Of course since they're stranded on primal Earth there's a few things they have to deal with first. Chief among these is the Maximals.
They have no wish for the Maximals to add to their numbers, so when a Maximal stasis pod is discovered, it is often a race to see which side will reach it first. For though the Cybertrons contained in the stasis pods are Maximals, Megatron can reprogram them to serve him. Thus stasis pods become sources of new characters on both sides.