Author's Note: This is a story that ties into my main Transformers fanfic, Cyber Battalion. The reason that this is a seperate story is because this story is going to be a bit long, and it is a flashback. I didn't want to interrupt the pace of Cyber Battalion with a long flashback, so I decided to make this a seperate story entirely that will be written concurrently with Cyber Battalion. Unlike CB, this story doesn't have a consistent upload schedule, so chapters will have to be uploaded whenever I can. Without further ado, let's roll out!

Power Structures, Part 1: Missing in Action

"He's gone!" Ramjet yelled as he examined the empty command center. Not a single bot was in there. Shockwave would normally be in here, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Ramjet's alt mode was a cybertronic jet that was identical to other seekers, but he had some modifications that differentiated himself from other seekers. He wore a cone shaped helmet. He was colored black and white and red.

"What do you mean gone?" asked Dirge as he followed behind Ramjet. Dirge had the same mold as Ramjet, and wore the same shaped helmet, but he was colored blue and black and gold.

"I mean exactly what I said. Shockwave's gone! He's just disappeared. I had our seekers check literally every building in Kaon. They triple checked three times, and they've assured me that hey can't find him anywhere!" Ramjet exclaimed.

"Have you checked his laboratory?" Dirge asked. Ramjet stopped and glared at his fellow seeker. "Shockwave's lab? Hah! As if Shockwave would allow us into his private stomping ground!" Ramjet said with a deadpan scowl.

"Just ask Knock Out for the access codes." Dirge said. Knock Out was Shockwave's personal assistant. Knockout was a micromaster, meaning he was smaller than most other Transformers, but he was much more fuel efficient.

"Ask Knockout?" Dirge, please! We've got a better chance at teaching Misfire to hit a target that's standing still." Ramjet exclaimed.

"Let me talk to him." Dirge said. Dirge was a very scary bot. His red beady eyes pierced the hearts of those who were petrified by his gaze. His faceplate resembled that of an endoskeleton, giving other bots an uneasy feeling when they looked at him. Dirge was so scary that he even scared himself. Despite that, he knew how to talk to people, a trait which many Decepticons lacked.

Dirge and Ramjet made their way to Knock Out's office. They knocked on the door. "Come in." said a smooth voice from behind the door. Ramjet and Dirge walked forward and the door slid open. In the room was a desk, and on the table were data pads with medical records on them. Knock Out was the Decepticon's surgeon general. He was a good doctor, but no one trusted him.

Knock Out's alt mode was a cybertronic back hoe truck. He had a giant wheel on each of his shoulders. He had a backhoe attached to his backside. He was colored crimson, and his paint job was perfect. "What do you two want?" Knock Out asked.

"We need the access codes to Shockwave's lab, now!" Ramjet said, slamming his hand onto he desk. Knock Out frowned.

"Oh please, as if I'd hand access codes to Shockwave's lab to a couple of bottom rung air fighters." Knock Out said. Ramjet growler and was about to punch Knock Out in his smug, sexy face, but Dirge stopped him.

"No, wait!" Dirge exclaimed. He shoved Ramjet aside. "Look, Shockwave's gone missing. We need to find out where he went. The state of the Empire depends on it, and I know a handsome, good looking bot such as yourself could help us with that." Dirge said.

Knock Out smiled. He just loved it when others played to his ego. Knock Out did look pretty by Cybertronian standards. However his physical appearance gave him an inflated sense of himself. He believes he's the hottest thing on wheels. "Well when you put it like that. . . sure." Knock Out replied. "Always happy to help someone who can't help but to gush at my chiseled good looks."

Ramjet wanted to pummel the ever loving scrap out of Knock Out. He HATED Knock Out with a burning passion, but he suppressed the urge to have his fist take Knock Out's face on a date.

Knock Out opened a drawer and handed Dirge a silver slab with the access code engraved on it. "Make sure you bring it back." Knock Out said. Dirge nodded in acknowledgement. He and Ramjet proceeded out the door and walked down the hallway to the monorail. Shockwave's lab was located in the neighboring city of Tarn. Tarn was the city state that Megatron came from and was the second of the first five city states to fall to Megatron.

Of course, they could always fly, but that would cost a lot of fuel that neither of them were willing to waste. The ride on the monorail was about a cycle. They arrived in Tarn, and traveled to Tarn's capital building of Destron. Destron meant Deception Cybertron when translated from Old Cybertronian, a form of language that was around the time of the ancient Maximals and ancient Predacons. They entered the palace, and took an elevator all the way down to Shockwave's lab. They walked up to the door, and entered in the access code that was on the slab into a key pad next to the door. They walked in and inspected the place.

The lab had CR chambers that housed protoforms. There was lab equipment scattered about. Dirge noticed that there was a glowing monitor. On the monitor was a set of galactic coordinates. Dirge wondered what all of this meant. Unfortunately, Dirge wasn't smart when it came to math or science, so it's not like he could access any of Shockwave's files. He did however notice a file that was titled "Project: Regenesis." Dirge didn't know what that meant, and honestly didn't want to find out. They searched the entire lab and found no trace of Shockwave.

"Have you found anything?" Ramjet asked.

"I'm afraid not. He's gone and he left no trace." Dirge responded. "If Shockwave's gone, we're then his second in command will have to take charge in his absence." Dirge said.

"And who is his second in command?" Ramjet asked while crossing his arms.

"Knock Out." Dirge replied.

"Fantastic!" Ramjet exclaimed. Not only was Shockwave missing, but that pretty bot Knockout had to be his replacement. "For booting up cold!" Ramjet shouted as he stomped out of the laboratory. Dirge was indifferent towards this turn of events. All he cared about, was surviving..

Elsewhere

It was cold outside the boarders of Iacon. It was cold and quiet. The orange walls of the city and the plexi glass dome that protected it could be seen from miles away. The silent hums of the generator could be heard from Power Station Beta. Every so often, bots would come out here to see if the power stations had produced any energon. Because the planet lacked natural resources, the stations would produce little to no energon, however this time the Autobots were lucky. The stations produced a good amount of energon, which was good for the Autobots. Any amount of fuel was welcome.

A couple of Autobots were at the power station, stacking up the energon cubes that were manufactured at the there. A tall, gray, black and red Autobot named Sludge had finished stacking the last of the energon cubes. He hopped on top of them, and grabbed a can of Kremzeek Energy Drink. He opened the can and started drinking. Another Autobot came out to the shipping dock. She was much smaller than Sludge, and had a similar color scheme to him.

"You're finished? Good, it's about time. Stacking energon is soo boring!" Slash griped. "Toss me a can, will ya?" Sludge grabbed another can of the drink and tossed it to Slash. She opened the can and started drinking. She gulped down the entire drink, crushed the can with her hands and tossed it. She and the rest of the Dynobots were heavy drinkers. They could down entire vats of engex, and still have room for more. The rest of the Dynobots came out of the shipping dock. Grimlock, Slug, Snarl, Swoop. They all had kibble that resembled reptilian beasts, which was unusual for most Transformers.

"Ugh. Work was a killer." Snarl said. Snarl didn't like doing grunt work. He was much more happier on the front lines. Fighting seemed to be the only thing he really enjoyed.

"Nothing like a hard day's work to put some dents in your chassis huh, Snarl?" Swoop said while slugging Snarl in the arm. Swoop was a much more chipper and affable bot. He got along with others quite well. Snarl just scowled like he usually did.

"We Dynobots do good work today." Grimlock said in his deep and booming voice. "Work pay off. Autobot's thank Dynobots for Dynobot's contribution." Grimlock had a weird way of speaking. His voice module had suffered damage before the war, so he spoke in a sort of 'caveman speak'.

"Amen to that, brother!" Slash said. She grabbed a few cans and handed them to her comrades. They downed their drinks pretty quickly. Swoop went back inside, collected a large tube filled with engex, and brought it back to the shipping dock. The Dynobots spent the night laughing, drinking, singing ,telling old war stories, playing games. That's the thing that the Dynobot's valued most. Freedom. They weren't bound to the same rules that the Autobots were. They were wild vagabonds who craved adventure and battle. If they could, they'd leave the empty and could world of Cybertron, and leave to explore the galaxy. They were a rowdy bunch. They were quiet for the rest of the night, blissfully unaware for what was about to happen to them.

Up above, a shuttle was flying over them. The pilot of the shuttle put the craft on autopilot, and went to the door. He opened it, looked down at Power Station Beta, and took aim, and proceeded opened fire. A purple laser beam struck down, and hit the energon cubes, creating a massive explosion that knocked the Dynobots awake. Energon was extremely volatile, so the chain reaction caused the station to go up in flames. Grimlock looked around him as the power station burned. Thick clouds of smoke were flown into the air. "Swoop! Snarl! Slug! Sludge! Slash!" Grimlock called out for his team. He ran through the fire and brimstone, and found Swoop, who was covering his face with his arm.

"Swoop, me need you to fly in air, and find out who shot us!" Grimlock ordered. Swoop nodded, and transformed into a cybertronic pteranodon. He flew into the air, past the fire and smoke. He flew up, and saw the shuttle, leaving the atmosphere. Swoop flew towards it, and activated his propulsion system to accelerate faster towards the shuttle. He almost reached it and transformed. He reached behind him, grabbed a tracking device and put it on the ship. He was about to find a way inside, but the figure who was piloting the ship peaked out of the door and fired a purple laser at Swoop, sending the bot hurling towards the surface below.

Swoop barely caught a glimpse of the figure, but what stood out to him the most was a single, yellow glowing eye, that was filled with no hate, no love, no emotion. Swoop was falling fast. As the smoke cleared, Slug saw him. Slug ran and caught Swoop before he hit the ground. He set Swoop down on the ground, and looked around for the rest of the Dynobots. Grimlock, Snarl, Slash and Sludge ran up to them.

"What the hell was that?" asked Slash.

"I don't know!" Slug snapped. Grimlock approached Swoop.

"Swoop, did you see who it was?" Grimlock asked.

Swoop groaned in pain. He slowly got up. "No, I barely saw them before they shot me down!" Swoop explained. He looked at the destroyed remains of the power station. "The energon! It's gone! All of it, gone!" Swoop exclaimed. Grimlock clenched his fist and growled.

"Whoever him is, him pay for what he did. No one attack Dynobots and get away with it. Dynobots, we leave. Go to Autobot City, and tell Ultra Magnus." Grimlock bellowed. The other Dynobots nodded. They all transformed into cybertronic dinosaurs. They marched right out of the courtyard, and headed to Iacon.