A/N:Woot! The much anticipated sequel to "Thrown to the Front Lines" is here! Jazz and Rachel as still on vacation, "101 Things To Do Before You Die", but the Seekers are on a serious mission of their own!

A little back-story for those of you who are unfamiliar with my other stories about Jazz and Rachel. Rachel Milne is a young, mousy engineer, whose work on a Nanotechnology project to make metal impervious to all damage for the US war machine, caught the notice of the Decepticons. She met Jazz who was sent to be her guardian; they fall in love, and all hell breaks loose. If you're interested in more, (I'm not going to give the entire plot away –evil grin-) check out"Thrown to the Front Line" for the full story.

"Countdown" is based off of the Generation 1 universe of Transformers but takes place in present day (2008). Jazz is still the white 935 Porsche with racing stripes, Bluestreak is now a dark blue Ferrari FXX, Prowl is now a silver and black Saleen Mustang, and Wheeljack is now a white Shelby Mustang with blue racing stripes. The other Autobots are the same alternate forms except for Ratchet, Ironhide and Bee, I used their movieverse alternate forms. In the Gen 1 series, Ratchet was a tiny ugly white van type ambulance that looked like a bad repaint of the 'Mystery Machine' and Ironhide was the ugliest red minivan in the universe. Ratchet as the SAR HumVee makes more sense, period. Ironhide as the black Topkick from the movie is perfect, minus one -very- important detail, his trademark Southern Good ol' Boy Accent. And Bee as the Camero not only looks better, but fits better than the VW Bug. Plus, the whole Volkswagen doesn't make war toys ideology is subjective.

I'm taking a few more writers prerogatives than I had before turning the G1 universe into a more AU setting, including adding on to the Transformers mythology and my take on what the term 'Seeker' really means.

P.O.V switches between Rachel and the others. Action-adventure with a serious dose of sci-fi and the fluffiness of Jazz and Rachel's relationship! (fluff no slash) Jazz x Rachel (Rachel was independently rated an 18 on the Mary-Sue litmus test)

Disclaimer: Only Rachel and the NPC's of this story are mine, the Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara.

Constructive criticism is welcomed. Reviews given much love and help me write faster (promise! -grin) P.S. Hints abound from the cross-over stories!

Countdown of the Ancients

Story Arc 6

Chapter 1 –Crossed Signals

"Sweep the base again, it's got to be here somewhere." Starscream's snarky voice grated over the Seeker's private com channel.

Skywarp sighed tiredly, "'Screamer… I've been all over Nemesis. It's not here."

"What if we turn up the sensitivity on the scanners?" Thundercracker sounded just as tired.

"Fine. Just give me a moment to disable the radiation sensors so you do not set off one of the alarms. But you'll need to search faster, shifts are about to change."

All three Seekers were tired. They had returned to Nemesis shortly after the battle with the horde and Devastator, only to find an angry Megatron waiting on the landing dock. He was worked up into a slathering rage over the Seekers abandoning him in the fight, and furious that his only gestalt on this mud ball of a planet had completely rebelled and tried to kill him. Starscream coldly reminded the warlord that the Seeker's had not abandoned him, unlike Soundwave had, and that the Seekers (with some help from the Autobots) had taken Devastator and the Constructicons offline. Which was when Megatron had realized that he was minus the Decepticons only medic and that he was badly injured and there was no one to repair him quickly. And, unfortunately, Skywarp had taken that exact moment to remind Megatron that Starscream was adept at repairs due to the injuries he had often attained from the warlord's wrath. Which left the trio in the predicament they were in at the moment.

Starscream was currently stuck in the med bay trying to fix the nasty gash left in Megatron's helmet, whom was blissfully in stasis. Starscream's actual knowledge of repairs was of Seeker anatomy, not general mech repairs. But they were running out of time for their search, and Starscream was finding it harder to drag out repairs on the warlord's wounds.

The Air Commander quickly disabled the sensor arrays of the base, before admonishing his wingmates. "Alright, the sensors are disabled, but I don't know how long it will take before someone realizes that they are down. Both of you work as fast as you can and stay out of sight."

"We know, 'Screamer. Geez!" The black and purple Seeker grumbled as he started teleporting around the base.

Thundercracker muttered as he cautiously walked along the hallway outside of the storage units, carefully scanning each door, "I bet two months worth of high-grade rations that a certain psychic aft-kissing nuisance knows where it is."

"We don't even know for sure if Megatron has it." Skywarp was teleporting quickly, although tiredly around the base, his attention on the handheld scanner.

There was a belabored sigh from the red Seeker, "I know, but the data pad didn't just sprout legs and walk off by itself. Someone took it. And I'll match TC's bet on high-grade rations that whomever it was took it directly to Megatron."

There was an evil giggle over the channel from the black and purple Seeker, "But you don't have two months worth of high-grade to bet, 'Screamer."

"You could at least share my rations, 'Warp." Starscream scowled as he slowly finished welding the gap in Megatron's helmet shut.

"I could but what fun is in that-? Wait…" There was a beeping noise over the com channel. "Hey, I found something!"

"Where are you at?" Starscream dropped the hand held welder and rushed for the door.

"Uh, hallway 21-G. But it's weird…"

"What's weird about it?" Thundercracker was running for the nearest lift when his scanner started to beep as well. "Wait. What are you talking about, 'Warp? I just found the data pad."

"How could you both have found it? You're on opposite sides of the base." Starscream entered the lift and punched the keys for level 21.

"It's not the data pad. It's something else." The black and purple Seeker sounded very confused.

"What's the security code for storage room 601, 'Screamer?" The dark blue Seeker double-checked his scanner to make sure it was reading properly.

"7805-13." The red Seeker didn't wait for the lift's doors to open fully before he pushed through them. "Are you sure it's the data pad, TC?"

"Positive." The beeping noise got louder over Thundercracker's com and soon there was the sounds of him lifting and moving storage crates out of the way. "Slag! It's in a sealed container, 'Screamer."

"Keypad or vocal activator?" Starscream still ran down the hallway towards Skywarp's position.

"Vocal activator."

"Let me see what 'Warp found and then we'll meet you there." The Air Commander rounded a corner only to barely miss plowing into the black and purple Seeker.

"Sorry." Skywarp thrust the scanner at his wingmate quickly and pointed to one of the bulbous windows that protruded out into the dark waters of the ocean that surrounded the base. "It's strongest at the window."

Starscream puzzled at the readings as he walked over to the window, "This can't be right…" He frowned and looked out into the sunless waters.

"Why? What's going on?"

The two Seekers looked at each other in complete confusion, "'Warp just found one here."

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the channel. "… That's impossible. There wasn't any mention of this planet, let alone this system."

"Something outside Nemesis is giving off the harmonic radiation signature."

Thundercracker didn't sound convinced, "Then your scanner is malfunctioning."

Starscream looked back over the data on the scanner and scowled, "Let's take back what is ours first."

The black and purple Seeker grinned, grabbing his wingmate suddenly and teleporting them into the storage room where the dark blue Seeker stood waiting. The Air Commander glared at his smirking friend while he tried to regain his equilibrium; he hated when Skywarp surprised him like that. Starscream shoved the scanner at Thundercracker as he walked over to the container that held what they had been searching for… what was rightfully theirs.

He glared at the voice activator controls on the container, his optics narrowing as he initialized the locking mechanism. Of course Megatron would have access to the container, and in most cases Starscream as the Second in Command would also have access, but it was the third name on the security list that made his lips curl back into a vicious snarl: Soundwave.

"You were right about the psychic sociopath, TC. He's listed as one who has access to this container." He spoke into vocal activator and opened the container. "Too bad the horde got to him."

The crate was empty except for an old beat up data pad. Starscream pulled the pad out of the container and exchanged it for a blank one that he had been carrying around just in case. He closed the container and reactivated the lock. "Put it back where it was. We don't want Megatron to find out that we took it back."

Thundercracker and Skywarp set the crates back up as they were while Starscream read over the contents of the data pad quickly. He turned around and compared the readings from the scanner to the information on the data pad. His frown deepened and he shook his head. There were some discrepancies in the signals, but... "This can't be right."

The black and purple Seeker set the last crate back in place. "What if it's wrong?'

"It has to be wrong. There is no mention of this planet in any of the texts." Thundercracker peeked over Starscream's shoulder to look at the data pad. "We've been over this information how many times?"

"I meant, what if the text is wrong. How do we know it's right?"

"Oh, let's see. We've been able to locate everything else it's mentioned so far." The red Seeker smacked the back of Skywarp's head. "There has to be a reason behind this…"

With their arguments taken to their private channel, the trio walked back up to level 21. They were a formidable presence, and mechs coming off of their shifts quickly scurried out of the Seekers way. No matter where they went, the Seekers were always in formation: Starscream in front followed closely behind with Skywarp to the right and Thundercracker to the left, their wings almost touching. All three carried the same facial expression, cold to the point of a sneer with a malicious glint in their optics. Anyplace where there could be other mechs watching, they held their heads up high, chests out and wings straight. They were proud. They were the elite.

The trio stopped at the window where the scanner had detected the signal. It still read that there was something outside the base. Thundercracker shook his head as he looked at his wingmates. "Okay, you win. Something is out there, but I'm telling you, as long as we've known about this, everything has been correct."

Skywarp looked out the window, "What if there are more out there?"

Starscream and Thundercracker looked at each other before turning their gaze to the nearly black waters on the other side of the window. The dark blue Seeker frowned and shook his head again. "We'd have to search every star system and asteroid belt in the universe. We'd be spending the rest of our natural lives trying to search out and find the rest…"

Starscream stood there silently as if in deep thought, his optics narrowed and frowning. He finally crossed his arms over his cockpit and snorted in disgust. "We might not have to search every system…"

Skywarp smirked and looked at the red Seeker, "Leave it to good old nerdy 'Screamer."

"Hmmph." He shook his head, glowering as he stared out the window.

"You think you can recalibrate the scanners?" Thundercracker turned his attention back to his wingmate.

"Maybe. But we need to know for sure that there might be more of the signatures there."

Skywarp grinned. "There's one out there, all we have to do is retrieve it."

"That's not what I meant." Starscream turned to look at the others. His faceplate nearly disfigured in a sickened scowl. "We need more definitive proof that there could be others."

"How do we do that?"

The Air Commander sighed in resignation, "We'll need to talk to someone about the signals."

Thundercracker raised one optic ridge, "Who on Cybertron would know about the energy signals?"

"Who on Cybertron could we trust, is more like it." Skywarp looked back and forth between the other two, wondering if they had lost their minds.

Starscream looked back out into the watery depths. He hated this, but at the moment the red Seeker couldn't see any other option to their predicament. "He's not on Cybertron."

----

Twenty minutes later, the three Seekers stood just outside the sensor range for the Ark.

"Are you slagging out of your mind?!" Skywarp glared at Starscream.

"I agree with 'Warp. We can't trust the Autobots, especially with this!" Thundercracker looked around the rocky area, disgusted that anyone would want to live in such a dusty place. "They're going to want to know what this is about and try to nose their goody-good way into it."

Starscream kept his narrowed optics forwards. "I realize that, but he's the only one who would know for sure about the radiation signatures." His optics narrowed further, but he didn't look at his wingmates. "And unless you have a ship that is capable for long range space travel shoved into your subspace and have nothing planned for the next trillion years, this is the easiest way to find out."

"I still think this is a bad idea, 'Screamer." The dark blue Seeker shook his head. "We're just begging for trouble."

"Your input is noted, TC."

A handful of armed mechs walked out from behind a row of scraggy trees, and Starscream started to doubt his sanity about going to him for information. He sighed and held his hands up in the air. "We are unarmed, Autobots."

The big black Topkick with the large cannons stepped forwards and looked suspiciously at the Seekers. "Ya decide ta turn ya'selves in wit'out a fight?"

Starscream snorted loudly, dropping his arms and crossing them over his cockpit. "You wish."

"Then why 're ya here?"

"I wish to speak to Jetfire."

----

"He wants to speak to Jetfire?" Optimus Prime blinked as Ironhide relayed Starscream's request back to the Ark. "Did he say why he wants to speak to him?"

"Nope. He won't say." Ironhide drawled out.

The Autobot leader shook his head, "Alright, tell Starscream that I am asking Jetfire to meet at your current location. I'll join you there shortly as well."

"Ya're not serious, Optimus? Who knows what this dirty Decepticon has planned."

"He's made no hostile moves, therefore I believe we should honor his request."

"What if Jet's dun want ta speak ta him? Ya remember that they're not on th' best o' terms." The black Topkick had a valid point.

"I'll leave that decision up to him."

----

"This is taking too long, 'Screamer. They're up to something." Skywarp glanced warily between his wingmates and the line of armed Autobots.

"Or Jetfire doesn't want to speak to us." Thundercracker stood to the side with his arms over his cockpit.

Starscream still stood there with his arms across his cockpit as well, staring down the black Autobot. "He'll come."

There was the sound of a vehicle engine moving closer to the tense location; Optimus Prime had arrived, and he transformed next to the line of Autobots. "Hello Starscream."

The red Seeker nodded slightly in acknowledgement. "Prime."

"Jetfire is on his way here, but I'm curious as to why you need to speak to him."

Starscream lifted his chin up and gave a small knowing smirk, "I have some questions that Jetfire, and only, Jetfire can answer."

The sound of the Veritech fighter engine roared above, and the white and red mech circled the two groups before landing next to his fellow Autobots. Icy blue optics looked at the three Seekers carefully, before sadly resting on the Air Commander, "You wanted to see me, Starscream?"

The red Seeker's optics narrowed and he nodded to the Veritech, "I want to ask you some questions."

The gentle scientist tilted his head thoughtfully to the side, "Questions regarding…?"

Starscream pulled a data pad carefully from subspace, snarling when Autobot weapons were lifted and aimed at him. "I said we are unarmed."

"Jus' ta be on th' safe side, Decepticon." Ironhide's cannons were rumbling in anticipation.

The Air Commander shook his head and motioned to Jetfire that he wanted to toss the pad to him. The pad crossed the distance without any more resistance and Jetfire activated it. "Radiation signatures?" The white and red mech looked up at the red Seeker. "What about them?"

"Have you seen either of those signatures before?"

Jetfire raised an optic ridge, "There are radiation signatures like this throughout space, and this," he pointed to one on the pad. "Is the signature that I came to inspect here, you should know that."

"That's not what I asked," Starscream glared at the scientist. "I want to know if you have seen those specific signatures anywhere else before."

Jetfire looked at the data pad again and nodded his head. "Yes, I have."

The red Seeker scowled and pulled another data pad from his subspace; he quickly wrote something on it and tossed it over to the Veritech. "At these locations?"

The white and red mech looked over the new data pad and nodded again, "At these systems, yes. But they were present in other star systems and planets as well."

Thundercracker and Skywarp exchanged brief glances and Starscream frowned. "How many?"

"How many signatures?"

"How many total places did you find those readings?"

"These exact readings?" The gentle Veritech mused for a moment. "Sixteen or seventeen that are not on this list. The second signature here I have only encountered three times and there was a third signature that was similar to these, I must have seen it at least twelve times."

"Told you so, 'Screamer." Skywarp snorted at the red Seeker.

Jetfire looked at the Seekers curiously, "Why are you interested in all of this?"

"I need to know the frequency of the other signature and where you found all of them."

"Why?" Icy blue optics regarded the trio strangely, "There must be a very good reason why you would come out here and ask me about them."

"It does not concern you, Jetfire." Starscream looked to the side, muttering and scowling. "And I did not know that signature was the one you were curious about."

Thundercracker and Skywarp glared at Starscream as they opened their private channel, "You didn't realize seven million years ago that there was a signature here?!"

He rounded on his wingmates and snarled. "I didn't know! The scanners were only set to what is said in the text!"

Optimus Prime moved along side the quiet scientist, "What is all of this, Starscream? If this is some Decepticon plan-"

Starscream turned his glare on the Autobot leader, "It has nothing to do with the Decepticons, or the Autobots for that matter!"

"Alright. I will trust what you say about it not being a Decepticon plan." Optimus looked over the three slightly ruffled Seekers. "But if it's something we can help with…"

"No. We don't need your help." Crimson optics flashed.

"And we'd appreciate it if this matter stayed between us." Thundercracker stepped up to Starscream, facing the Autobots. "Meaning that Megatron does not hear about this. Ever."

"We won't mention it again. But I still offer our help if you need it."

"Good." Starscream stepped forwards and held out his hand for the pads. Jetfire made a few notes on them and handed the data pads to the Seeker. "I'd like to know what all of this is about as well, old friend. It wasn't that long ago that we were exploring the universe."

Starscream didn't meet Jetfire's gaze, "I know." He subspaced the data pads and turned around to leave, but he stopped before he moved too far away from the gentle scientist. "I am sorry. If I had known it was this…"

"Maybe someday we can discuss this, when we are not on different sides of the battlefield."

"Hmmph." Starscream jumped into the air and transformed quickly with Thundercracker following him.

Skywarp jumped into the air, but stopped and turned to the Autobots, "Hey. Tell the femme that Skywarp says hiya."

Optimus Prime looked at the black and purple Seeker strangely before nodding, "I will tell her."

A lopsided grin crossed over the Seeker's face. "Good." And then he transformed as well and took off after his wingmates.