"This is a mistake..." Skystalker murmured as he led his troops down a darkened hallway.

"You want to be careful sir, I swear, his lackeys could hear a pin drop, just ask NovaScream," Cometjumper said, motioning to his unfortunate partner.

NovaScream grumbled under his breath, something about doing horrible, unspeakable things to Galleon.

"Nevertheless, this order is a mistake. Splitting our forces is foolishness! We'll be vulnerable if we stay in small teams!" Skystalker said, keeping his weapon raised as if expecting something to leap out at them.

Behind them, a faint red glow quickly slipped past.

They look like them, He thought, hesitating briefly before melting into the shadows.


Elsewhere in the factory, Magmatron, Toxin and Gravedigger were searching for the person who had attacked and killed Crumble and Hook.

"Wh-what could have done it, sir? What could have killed them like that?" Gravedigger asked nervously.

"I think we can rule out a Maximal attack, it certainly doesn't match their style, too brutal. Possibly it could have been a rival Predacon faction or a mercenary team. But perhaps..." Magmatron trailed off.

"What, sir?" Toxin asked.

"Legends speak of demons living deep beneath Cybertron, monstrous creatures who towered over the Transformers of old, before the Great Upgrade. I had thought that such beings were just a myth, but given the events which we have witnessed..." Magmatron said, staring thoughtfully before walking off.

"Demons? Surely he can't be serious!" Toxin whispered to Gravedigger.

"But what if it is? You saw what happened to Hook and Crumble! They melted!" Gravedigger hissed back, the fear evident in his voice.

"That proves nothing! It could have been flamethrowers or acid blasters, or...or...something!" Toxin snapped, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Strong enough to completely melt down one Predacon and fuse another to a wall?" Gravedigger questioned "There is no weapon that I know of that could do either of those things."

"Well then maybe it's some kind of weapon that you don't know about! Now come on, we're lagging behind!" Toxin exclaimed as he quickly strode after Magmatron.

"Hey! W-w-wait for me!" Gravedigger cried out as he ran to catch up with the pair.


"Hmmm?" Galleon looked around, thinking he had heard something.

It was faint, but perhaps it had been the sounds of shots ringing out?

"Perhaps someone has found the other intruders..." Galleon muttered to himself as he searched for the source of the noise.

There it was again! More gunfire! And it sounded close too. Very close indeed. Galleon rushed off, hoping to find whoever was attacking them.

The Seekers, meanwhile, were panicking as the gigantic form of Sunstorm slowly approached them.

"Stay back! Stay back!" Cometjumper screamed as he fired upon the ancient Decepticon.

"Cometjumper, fall back! Fall back!" Skystalker ordered as he too shot at Sunstorm.

"ALL WILL PERISH IN THE FIRES. EVEN YOU, WHO LOOK SO MUCH LIKE MY COMRADES OF AGES PAST." Sunstorm rumbled as he reached out for Cometjumper, who was frozen with fear where he stood.

"N-no! Please, no!" Cometjumper shrieked, feeling the heat radiate from Sunstorm's colossal hand.

Perhaps fate favoured Cometjumper at that particular moment in time, because instead of closing around Cometjumper, Sunstorm's hand suddenly jerked backwards. Smoke began rising from the Decepticon's back and Sunstorm turned to see Galleon standing behind him. In his panic, Cometjumper had not heard the shots that Galleon had fired, the very shots which had inadvertently saved his life.

"Cometjumper, move!" Skystalker shouted, motioning frantically.

"Belay that order! Help me take it down!" Galleon roared as he unleashed another salvo of rounds into Sunstorm. However, despite the power of the shots, Sunstorm seemed to be completely unfazed by the assault. Instead, he turned and slowly trundled towards Galleon.

"Cometjumper, quickly!" Skystalker commanded.

"Run!" NovaScream added.

"Stand and fight!" Galleon shouted, firing once more, again to little effect.

Cometjumper, finally seeming to regain his motor functions, turned and fled towards his fellow Seekers.

"I need cover immediately!" Galleon bellowed as Sunstorm closed the distance between the two.

The two lesser Seekers looked towards their leader. "Sergeant, what should we do?" NovaScream asked, the fear evident in his voice.

Skystalker hesitated and glanced at Galleon, who was backing away from the behemoth that was Sunstorm. Skystalker knew that Galleon could not hope to take on the Decepticon alone...But then, if the giant, elite warrior could not defeat it, what chance did they have? "Retreat! We can't hope to fight it!"

"What? Cowards! You shall pay dearly for your insubordination!" Galleon cried as he backed away...only to backpedal into a wall, trapping him.

Cometjumper and NovaScream fled deeper into the factory. Skystalker however, lingered a moment, staring at Galleon. It was over for him, Sunstorm had him cornered. Skystalker hated himself for his cowardice, but knew that he had to look out for his team. Throwing one final glance in Galleon's direction, Skystalker ran after his troops.

After running a few meters, all three Seekers could hear a bloodcurdling scream of agony behind them.

"We-we ran! Oh, Primus, we abandoned him!" NovaScream said, close to panicking.

"He's dead! He's dead and it's our fault!" Cometjumper shrieked, apparently in a state of hysteria.

"Be quiet, the pair of you!" Skystalker barked, causing the other two Seekers to face their leader "Look, we had no choice! To stand and fight that monstrosity would have been suicidal! You saw how it stood up to Galleon, even with our combined firepower, we couldn't have stopped it! Galleon was a fool to try and take it down, he should have fallen back, he didn't and now he's dead!"

"I doubt Vanquish will see things that way," Cometjumper muttered.

Skystalker paused "No, perhaps not…but then, he wasn't here, now was he? As far as we know, Galleon was already dead when we stumbled across his corpse. Am I understood?"

Slowly, reluctantly, his subordinates nodded. Satisfied, Skystalker turned and strode off.

"Good, now, we must hurry. I wish to put as much space between us and that monstrosity as possible! With any luck, we might yet find an exit!"

Not wishing to be left behind, the other two Seekers hurried to catch up with their sergeant.


Keeping it short since it's been so long since the last time I updated this. Jeez, it has been a long time. I can't promise that the next chapter will come out soon, I have too many other fics and too many other ideas, but I'll try.

9aza, sorry it took so long.