A/N: First off: I am not dead and I haven't forgotten this story! I merely had a minor setback in posting the second part of it. But there it is! Enjoy now and leave me a little comment hum?

Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, or Stephen King's The Stand. The belongs to their rightful owners.

Decepticons: Many shades of grey...

-Present day: July 4-

The country was dark, quiet, shrouded in shadows and smoke at those dead hours of the night. In the skys, stars shone brighter than ever due to the lack of human produced light to shroud their beauty. On the ground, rubbles, ruins and destruction, everywhere, every towns and cities were in ruin and left to rot after their human inhabitants left or died. The silence that hung everywhere was deep, almost deafening and only broken by some beasts or the very random proof that there were some survivors, somewhere. Gunfires, someone crying, someone screaming, someone talking to him/herself. Sometimes an explosion, rocking the ground and destroying yet another building.

The human civilization had taken a turn for the worst, and all that remains was silence and ruins. A silence that was suddenly broken by the sounds of jet engines overhead, something that seemed oddly out of place in that panorama of death and desolation. Three jets finally appeared over the city, and swerved around for a few moments, apparently looking for something. The blue one took to the East, while the black one headed towards the west. The red jet flew straight ahead due north and they all made a few passes, turns and acrobatics before rejoining in the center of the city, transforming into large Seekers, and starting to talk amongst themselves.

"It seems that for once, Megatron was right. The Earth is ours to bleed out of its resources, and the human race is no more." Starscream said, a small smug smile on his grey lips. "We can start pumping it dry of energy and for once, no one is going to thwart us. No humans, no Autobots, no one!"

The blue jet looked doubtful, while the black on just cackled in glee, and slapped his blue comrade in the shoulder. Thundercracker was looking at the ruins of the large City they were flying over and a part of him was feeling... sorry for the little flesh creatures for the fate they brought on themselves. They hadn't ask for it, they certainly hadn't asked to be extinct in such a way, and somehow, it felt... wrong to him. He didn't dare voice his thoughts though, knowing that it would brand him as a human-lover and a traitor amongst his pairs. However, his frown only deepened when his audio caught the sound of a fleshling crying, a young one, under them in the ruined city's streets.

Skywarp pouted at his friend's obvious gloomy mood, and rolled his optics, playfully rapping the top of his head. "Come on TC! You're not gonna cry for the stupid fleshbags, are ya? They're dead, and they brought it to themselves! I say good riddance!"

The black seeker sure had no such thoughts as his blue trinemate. He had always thought the humans were an infection of germs upon the Earth, and without them they can finally get what they were here for: enough energon to revive Cybertron! He couldn't care less what happened to the humans. If they were stupid enough to create some kind of plague powerful enough to wipe them off the face of the Earth, and then find a way to let it loose by accident, then they deserved their fate.

"We're here to assess the damages, you two, not gossip about the humans and their stupidity!" Starscream finally cut before the two of them could get any further in their arguments. "After their military tried to kill us all by destroying our underwater base, I feel only little concern about their fate. You should remember, Thundercracker, that they Allied themselves with the Autobots first, and therefore were our enemy. A dead enemy is a good enemy, in my book. Alright! Let's get going!"

He transformed back again, and flew towards the next city, soon followed by Skywarp, and then with reluctance, Thundercracker. The sound of the lone human crying seemed to follow him while he left the city on the trail of his trinemates...

-FLASHBACK: 2 weeks ago, Pacific Ocean, Decepticon's base-

Something was up with the humans.

Sitting on his throne, looking thoughtful, Megatron was rubbing his chin while pondering about that statement. Something was definitely wrong with the humans. They had just returned from a very successful raid, and for once, collected all the energon cubes that they needed and planned, and faced only very little resistance. The humans had seemed to be... off, something was not right with them. For one, the facility they had raided, a oil rig off the coast of California, had been severely undermanned, as if half of the crew couldn't make it, and second, the humans that were there seemed either very distracted and afraid of something - but not them for once - or sick.

Half of the ones that were there were coughing, sneezing or looking fevered, or all at once. Contrary to what the Autobots seemed to think, Megatron was no fool. He had studied the humans upon revival on Earth and he had a good idea of how they functioned, physically and psychologically. And what he had witnessed today had pinged many warning buttons about the human's condition and state of mind. Sickness, worry, even fear, distraction while being attacked by giant alien robots. It all added up to make up a picture that Megatron found disturbing but that would be very useful for him in the end.

If what he was thinking was indeed the truth, then the human race wouldn't be a problem much longer. He smirked and had a dry, cold laugh at this perspective. But he still needed some confirmation, and called upon his seekers, and Soundwave.

"Soundwave, I need you to send your team of cassettes to spy on the humans, and report to me what they find. Any oddity, any weird or unusual behavior, anything! I think something is up with the flesh creatures, and I need to know what!" Megatron ordered, and Soundwave nodded once, releasing his team of cassettes from his chest.

When they were all gathered at his feet, he gave them their order, and the small Decepticons scattered to go do their jobs. He was confident they will return with the information Megatron seeked in no time at all. The dark blue tapedeck had noticed a wrongness with the humans as well, but as ever when he tried to read their minds, he could only get a jumble of detached images and thoughts. They were so undisciplined... not like a Cybertronian mind. But what he did manage to gather was at best worrying, and very suspicious. The humans were indeed up to something, or more likely, were terrified of something out of their control.

Soundwave was reminded that he was not alone when Megatron addressed the seekers next. All six were gathered there, and Starscream stepped in front of the group as their Air Commander.

"Starscream, I want you and your seekers to scout the Country and report to me all that you notice from the air. Something is wrong with the humans. I want to know what. I have the feeling it would change the tide of the war in our favor." he grinned, baring his sharp fangs, and held up his hands in a reverse 'v' shape in front of his lower face, shadowing it a little. His red optics brightened with glee. "I have the feeling Earth will soon be very under protected. The Autobots can't be everywhere at once. We will drain this planet dry, and then claim victory on our soft-sparked enemies. if what I suspect is right, they will be mourning their human allies like the idiots they are, leaving us free reign to do as we please."

Starscream was also grinning wolfishly, optics alight with glee and greed at the thought of all the energon they were going to get. Ho, he was no fool either. He had noticed the changes, and intended to take it to his own advantage. No humans means no opposition and a lot of fun.

"As you command, Megatron! I will not fail you!" Starscream replied in a slight purr, optics bright and pleased. "The humans are going to disappear, and Earth will soon be ours!" he added, putting in his own opinion of the situation, and Megatron just smirked and nodded in return.

"Indeed Starscream. Now go! I want those answers before nightfall!" he dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and they left after saluting their Leader.

*The next day*

"My Lord!"

Megatron, whom had been facing a wall of screens showing many different scenes of destruction all over the world, turned around at the sound of his Second's voice. Starscream was hurrying towards him and he realized that the red lights of Red Alert were on and he hadn't noticed yet, too engrossed in his delightful study of the humans self-destroying out there. But now that he noticed, he went into full Commander mode and briskly asked the seeker what was going on.

"Report Starscream! What's the meaning of this?"

"The humans Sir! They have gathered a wholefleet of vesels over our base! I think they gathered up all the ships they could and akll converged here during the night!"

If anything, Starscream managed not to sound too panicked despite his obvious nervousness. Megatron scowled and with the touch of a few buttons, brought up an image of the sea surface over the base from one of the human's satellite they had taken over a while ago. The image made him uneasy. Starscream wasn't kidding when he said they had gathered all the ships they could. The sea was covered with ships in a three miles radius around the base. Destroyers, plane carriers, frigates, bombers. All of the types were there somehow. Something caught his attention then. A bright flash of light from the middle of the flock, right over their base.

"What is this-?"

Starscream never had time to finish his thought when the base was shaken by a tremendous explosion and the ocean floor was briefly as bright as daylight. Megatron was thrown sideway into a nearby console but managed to hold on while Starscream and others in the Command center weren't so lucky. When he recovered, he immediately started shouting orders, his voice hard, cold and really, really not amused.

"Soundwave! Report! What did they hit us with?!"

The Comm officer and TIC picked himself up and quickly typed away at his console before he could answer his leader. He was incapable of emotions, but Megatron could swear he saw him tense for a moment there. When he answered, his voice was as even and as cold as ever.

"Weapon type: nuclear. Power: between 6 and 8 Megatons. Ships's status: undamaged. Radiation level outside the ship: deadly for organic lifeforms."

"What the... The humans used a fragging NUKE on us?!" Starscream exclaimed, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Transmission incoming from the surface." Soundwave said calmly and he pulled it on screen.

A human appeared, wearing an Officer's suit, and looking as sick and as mad as a rabid dog to megatron and all his Officers now gathered on the Bridge. The human coughed and hacked for a minute or two before he could speak, his voice raspy and wheezing with fluids clogging his respiratory ways. Megatron glared hatefully at the man who dared attack his base.

"Alien scums!" he started, coughing again, then continuing. "You brought this to our planet! It's all your f-f-..." More coughing and hacking. "Your fault! Die, DIE ALIEN SCUMS!" he started laughing madly, his fevered eyes looking unsettling and he added with a wheez a bit deeper. "Your friends in...-" coughing. "In Oregon are next! ALL ALIENS MUST DIE!"

And theh the communication was cut and Soundwave's voice immediately cut in.

"Brace for impact!"

Another huge explosion shook the ship and warning klaxons started to wail. 'Warning: Radiation levels on Sublevel 6 dangerously high! Warning! Warning!' The computerized voice started and Megatron snarled. No human was going to kill them like that! That ship might be down and sunken but it was NOT helpless! And it was still HIS SHIP!

"Soundwave, Starscream, retaliate! Destroy those annoying bugs!"

"Whut pleasure!" Starscream said and he pressed a few buttons on a console near the front of the large room. "Pulse Phasers activated!"

"FIRE!"

A bright red volley of energy beams flew from the ship's hull in several places and hit the ships that were right above them, sinking a good part of the little fleet in one go. The others started to scatter, others started to try and take their place. Megatron smiled viciously.

"Soundwave, use the Omega Beam. Annihilate them!" He

"Acknowledged." Soundwave typed a few commands on his own console, and soon, it was like the ocean itself erupted on a two miles radius around the sunken ship.

In moments, the remaining ships were all but history, destroyed to the atomic level. The Omega Beam was a last resort weapon, but if humans wanted to use THEIR weapons of mass destruction on them, then Megatron wasn't gouing to respond with any less then his OWN brand. When calm has returned, he calmly asked, hands clasped behind his back.

"Soundwave, report."

"All human ships destroyed, my Lord. Radiation levels around the ship still dangerously high. Sub-section 6 had been sealed off."

"Good. Started cleaning up the water and assess the damage to the ship. Starscream!"

Starscream who looked gleeful at the destruction of the humans who had attempted to destroy them, came forward with a smug smile.

"What are your orders, my Lord?" He asked, almost giddy at the idea of helping the humans along the path of self destruction.

"Take your trine and go the Washington DC. Bomb them to the Pit! Take the Coneheads and Triplechangers as well! Those humans went too far and I've been lenient for too long! Show them, or what's left of them, that we means business and that their world is no longer THEIRS but OURS! GO!"

"Whit pleasure!"

Starscream almost purred and briskly walked out, already calling out orders to all his flyers to meet him up on the launching platform. They had a city to destroy! This world was their now and there was nothing the humans could do to stop it!

After today, the Decepticons will reign Supreme!

**Present time**

Bombing humans city was not so much fun when there was no one to stop them Starscream realized after the fourth they attacked. The cities were mostly empty and the few remaining humans were hiding or leaving the chocking, corpse-filled rubbles. The seekers was... unsettled. He had been having weird recharge cycles lately, and the last three weeks were a haze to him. He had noticed the same with some of his comrades, in particular his trinemates.

Whatever was going with the humans was starting to affect them, and this was not a good thing. It meant that it was more then just a mere epidemic gone to the Pit. Even Megatron seemed affected, and it was better to steer clear from him. However... Starscream wasn,t one to dream, Cybertronians in general never dreamed. So why was he and his peers plagued with recharge fluxes all of a sudden?!

He was a scientist once, and he really hated when things didn't make sense. Even collecting energy from the now empty plants and refineries wasn't as fun as it should have been. Something was off, terribly so. He remembered vividly what he dreamed off, and the bad feeling it left behind. It tugged at a part of his spark he had thought long dead. It was sparking his 'humanity' back into gear and he didn't like it at all.

The sooner they dried that planet off the better!

Little did he know they already had lost the option to leave anymore... For greater things were already in motion that will affect all living creatures on Earth and beyond!

-TBC-