Disclaimer; I own Shadow Stalker and the plot. That's it.

Warning: Due to language and violence, this series is rated PG.

Of Shadow And Light

Chapter 1

Rain

by Switchblade X

"I hate rain."

"Yeah, we know. Dat's the tenth time you've said dat in da last six minutes!" Rattrap shook his head, "I'm gettin' sick 'a dis, too. It's been rainin' for four days, now!"

Cheetor sighed, switching from one camera's view to another. The one thing he hated more than rain was monitor duty. "I wish we didn't have monitor duty."

"Me, too."

"I mean, the Preds haven't moved since the rain began! Why watch the monitors when you know that nothing is going to happen?"

"And how, exactly, do you know what Megatron is doing?" Dinobot asked upon entering the command center.

Cheetor turned to look at him, "I'm just guessing-"

"Precisely! For all you know, Megatron might be plotting an attack that would annihilate us all. Guessing has a tendency to kill." He transformed, and headed towards the elevator, claws clicking against the metal floor.

"An' jus' where do you tink you're goin'?" Rattrap asked.

"Out." Dinobot answered, disappearing down the elevator shaft as thunder roared outside, echoing through the base.

Cheetor sighed, returning his attention to the monitors. "I hate rain."

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High above the Earth's atmosphere, a blue rift opened, and a Starhopper popped out. The ship paused for a moment, almost like it was disoriented. Then, it headed for the green and blue planet that loomed in front of it.

Inside the Starhopper, two red optics flared to life. The sole inhabitant of the ship sighed in relief, glad that the little craft had managed to get through the rift in one piece. Black fingers danced over the controls, calling up readouts on atmospheric conditions.

The ship was headed into a storm. And the only way to avoid it was to change course completely, risking the possibility of getting lost.

Damn. the pilot thought. Is nothing ever easy? …Well, no matter. I've flown worse ships through tighter spots. This little Starhopper should be able to make it. …Hmmm… Which raises the next question; since this ship isn't mine, how do I know what it can and can't do?

The clouds darkened rather quickly, and lightning began to dance between them.

Quickly, the pilot rerouted all of the available power to the shields. Here we go. The already dim lights of the cockpit went out completely, leaving only the controls just barely illuminated.

Carefully, the Starhopper maneuvered between the thunderheads, narrowly missing a bolt of lightning. The pilot's hands flew over the controls, making minor adjustments to the coordinates. Easy now…

Lightning struck the shield.

For one horrible moment, the ship stopped, shaking violently as the translucent shield flashed blue and disappeared. And then, a second later, the shield returned, albeit severely weakened.

Alarms were going off inside the cockpit, merely stating the obvious. Still, though, that didn't mean that the pilot was ignoring them. That was entirely too close. One more hit like that and I'm as good as fried.

Hail began to bounce off of the shield and the wind picked up, jostling the ship around even more. Evidently, The Powers That Be don't want me to land in one piece. the pilot decided, trying desperately to stabilize the Starhopper. Needless to say, it wasn't happening. If I could just break through this thunderhead, I might make it out okay, provided I don't exit into the eye of a tornado. …With the way my luck's been going lately, that'll probably be exactly where I'll end up.

Again, lightning flashed before the little ship, momentarily blinding the pilot. That brief blindness proved to be a fatal mistake.

The lightning struck again, this time penetrating the shield and connecting with the metal hull of the ship.

Sparks flew from the control panel, as the ship's entire network of systems was fried to little more than a crisp. The hull along with several other compartments, and part of the cockpit burst into flames. And then, the fall began.

On the brink of panic, the pilot desperately tried to get the main computer back online. There was no such luck to be had.

The clouds went streaming by, and soon, the flaming Starhopper broke through the barrier, only to be swallowed up by the wind and rain of a violent thunderstorm.

After several minutes of trying to get the computer back online, the pilot gave up. Admitting defeat, the pilot reached down and picked up a small pouch that had been sitting against a nearby bulkhead, then fastened the chair's safety belt.

The ground began to rush up at the ship faster and faster, as the moment of impact drew near.

The red optics darkened, as the pilot prepared to die.

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Dinobot stood on an outcropping, watching the storm unleash its fury on the defenseless Earth. Water ran in miniature rivers down his body, but he paid it no attention.

Something began to roar above him.

Expecting to see a funnel cloud, the Maximal warrior was stunned to see a fireball heading straight for him. "What the Pit…?" he started, zooming in on the oncoming projectile.

It was a Maximal Starhopper! And from the looks of things, it wasn't going to land gently.

He hit the dirt as the dieing ship screamed by overhead, crashing into the forest below and leaving a trench that was a quarter of a mile long and several feet deep.

Nothing could have possibly survived that crash. Dinobot knew this, but for some reason, he found himself climbing down the face of the outcropping, and running as fast as he could towards the wreck. Part of him wondered why he was doing this, but was quickly dismissed. He had an obligation as a Maximal to at least search for survivors or corpses. Optimus would have his hide if he didn't.

The Starhopper lay in several different pieces, all of which were still ablaze. Somehow, though, the cockpit had remained mostly intact even after it had separated from the cargo hold. If there were any bodies to recover, the cockpit would be a good place to start.

As he approached, Dinobot ran a quick scan over the wreckage. According to the results of the scan, there was only one life form aboard. Cautiously approaching the cockpit, he saw a crumpled form in the pilot's chair, still strapped in. He transformed, and looked for a way to get in.

There was a decent sized hole where the cockpit had separated. It would have to do.

Quickly, reminding himself that the engines probably still had fuel in them and would likely explode any second now, Dinobot entered the cockpit, and removed the pilot from the chair. Then, he rushed out of the inferno, trying to get as far away from the wreck as he could. He hadn't even gotten out of the light of the flames when the engines exploded, sending him flying several feet.

He landed on top of the unconscious/dead pilot, and shielded the body as the debris rained down around them. When he was sure that the deadly rain had stopped, then and only then did he sit up and take a good look at whomever it was that he had just saved from incineration.

A femme in black and blood red armor lay motionless beside him, a small pouch secured to her side. She was heavily damaged; most of her injuries were burn-related.

The little spots of color that had danced across his optics as an aftereffect of the explosion finally disappeared, giving him a better view of the woman's burned face. When recognition hit him, it was all he could do to keep from breaking down and sobbing.

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Author's Note: Obviously, this chapter is a bit rough. It was difficult for me to write because I didn't want to give away the identity of the pilot. It'll get better, though. I promise.