Cybertron-4 Earth days till the exodus-Decepticon held Iacon:

Stormchaser was reading reports from his special operations squads in the Decepticon forward operations base when it happened. Everything was going normally-Lord Megatron was looking out over Iacon and toward the Autobot star ship known as the Ark, Soundwave was relaying orders to the soldiers on the front line and Starscream had left to hunt down the Autobots who had gotten close to the base's perimeter.

First, a vehicon (one of shockwaves latest inventions, a group of faceless soldiers that were blindly loyal to Megatron) had approached him. Then it gave him the news. "Commander Stormchaser,Sir. We've received reports from the civilian transports being sent to the organic world Dr Shockwave discovered." He said, fidgeting in a way that clearly showed he had some very bad news. "None of them made it off world. When the rescue teams arrived they found that everybot on board was either offline or captured by the enemy. They couldn't find your family, Sir. I'm sorry." If the news affected Stormchaser he didn't externally show it. His mind, however, was full of activity. Did he just say that? Is this a joke? Why would the Autobots shoot down civilian vessels? Did they take my Bonded and my son or did they escape? "Thank you, soldier. You are dismissed." Said Stormchaser with his practised 'uncaring officer' voice. The vehicon turned to leave and Stormchaser thought on the news. With each thought he grew more worried and with each new scenario his anger at the Autobots grew.

Cheering from the entrance forced him to turn and see what could have possibly gotten the troops so excited. Surprise lit up his face as there, being dragged by his arms towards Megatron, was Optimus Prime. Starscream was casually strolling toward Megatron like this accomplishment was an easy feat. "Funny isn't it Megatron? How I so easily defeated the one enemy you couldn't!" Starscream said with his recently adopted cocky attitude. He had gotten it into his head that he could actually lead the decepticons in Megatron's place! "Silence!" Shouted Megatron as he shot Starscream with a low power round from his fusion cannon. Stormchaser would be lying if he said he said he didn't find enjoyment in that. "Optimus...Prime. That is what they call you now, isn't it?" Said Megatron, sarcasm dripping from his vocal components. "Megatron, it didn't have to come to this." Returned Optimus, now chained to the floor via an Energon link. "This is what you chose, Prime, when you defied me. All of this is your doing!" Said Megatron, radiating pure hatred. "Optimus" spoke an Autobot prisoner who was immeadiatly executed by Megatron. "Megatron, Stop!" Begged the prime. "I'll stop when all of you are dead!" Shouted Megatron as he executed another. "This is needless. All we want is to leave!" Spoke Optimus before he was slapped, quite forcefully, by Megatron who began to walk back to his viewing area. "No one leaves without my permission!" Shouted Megatron. "Soundwave, charge the warp cannons. We'll blow their precious Arc off of the face of Cybertron!" Ordered the warlord. "Yes, Lord Megatron." Said Soundwave. "I wasn't asking for permission, Megatron." Said Optimus, lifting himself from the ground.

Megatron began to monologue at the prime while the rest of the Decepticons noticed a huge Autobot rise from Cybertron's cold floor. "Megatron, look out!" Warned Soundwave but he was too late. A giant fist smashed down on Megatron. Repeatedly. When it rose back up it left the dumbstruck Decepticons staring at Optimus. "Leave. Now!" Threatened the Autobot leader as the giant prepared to crush the base. "Decepticons!" Called Starscream "Megatron has perished, betrayed by his foolish pride. The fact that Soundwave and Stormchaser have been unable to so much as vent without Megatron's permission shows that they can not take the role of leader! Therefore, I am your master now!" Announced that annoying spawn of a glitch, Starscream. "My first order...return to Kaon."

And with that every decepticon in the Forward operations base left. Except for Stormchaser and Soundwave, who could only stare at their friend's recently offlined frame for a moment longer. There leader was dead. What were they to do? Why, figure out a way to bring him back from the Allspark.

Cybertron-Kaon-2.5 Earth days till the exodus:

They were disguised in Soundwave's lab in Kaon. Soundwave as a 'boom box' (whatever that was) and Stormchaser layed among the many corpses around the room. When he questioned Soundwave about them he'd been assured that none of them were there when he joined the Iacon invasion force. Two vehicons entered the room. "What is this place?" Asked one with a sense of dread in his voice. "Soundwave's old lab. Just throw your trash anywhere, he doesn't care." An image of Starscream appeared on the television above the door. "Oh, he's starting, we'd better get back." They both left the room.

Soundwave transformed back into his robot mode and Stormchaser stood up. "Did one of those guys sit on you?" Asked Stormchaser with a chuckle. "Affirmative." Replied Soundwave as he supplied power to the Energon links and reattached Megatron's arms. It's honestly a miracle that vehicons are stupid enough to not notice the very much dead Megatron being held in the centre of the room. "Rumble eject, commence operation:brain-module fusion." Rumble smashed his way through the vents and found Megatron's head which was in the vents for some reason. How'd it get there? No one knows. "Here ya go, Soundwave!" He called as one of the claws Soundwave was using to rebuild Megatron took the head from him and slowly put it onto the body. "Commence Energon transfusion." Said Soundwave as Megatron began to online his optics once again.

"Where...am I?" Questioned Megatron. "Inside my lab in the gladiatorial arenas." Answered Soundwave. "Where is Starscream?" Asked Megatron. "Up here, your Lordship." Said Stormchaser pointing to the screen above the door. "Decepticons, a new age is upon us! Gone are the failures of Megatron!" Said Starscream. Megatron shouted in anger and broke out of his bonds. "Gather Shockwave and the other loyalists, I have a speech of my own to give!" Ordered Megatron. "As you command, Lord Megatron." Responded Soundwave as Megatron left to confront Starscream and his backers. Both Stormchaser and Soundwave contacted all the Megatron loyalists that hadn't been arrested by Starscream.

"Now that Megatron has returned we may bring our focus to our next objective." Informed Soundwave. Stormchaser looked confused. They hadn't discussed another goal. "What next objective?" He asked. "Discovering where the Autobots are keeping Windrunner and Cloudcover. I have identified several potential areas." Replied Soundwave. "What? Where?" Asked Stormchaser with uncontrollable excitement and worry in his voice and in his optics. "The two most likely places are the Autobot headquarters in Iacon and aboard the Ark. If you plan to mount a rescue then you will have to assemble a team. Both places will be heavily guarded." Informed Soundwave. "Alright, Alright. I'll go do that. Inform me when Megatron orders another push on Iacon." Said Stormchaser. "Affirmative." Replied Soundwave as he turned to type something on his terminal.

Stormchaser has some recruitment to do.