Chapter 8: Phantoms Of The Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or Sailor Moon. They're the property of Hasbro, and Naoko Takeuchi respectively. Any other copyrighted material found in this story is the property of its respected owner. Good reading.

The women sat in the living room, and waited for Darien, and Serena to return from their meeting with the Autobots. Amara, and Michelle chatted to each other, Raye went to the kitchen to find more wine, Hotaru watched TV, and on the other couch, Amy stayed silent, and mostly stared at her drink. Lita kept telling her that everything would be fine. However, it was little comfort for the blue haired woman.

All eyes were on her when she returned from the transport vessel. Though he didn't show it much, Optimus Prime was angry with her. Many of the Autobots she passed at the outpost gave stares of disgust, and anger at the Sailor Soldier. She didn't face them alone, thankfully, because she was met with Serena, and Darien once she reached the Autobot master. The huge, and imposing mech told the three humans what Blaster, and Wheeljack reported. She couldn't argue or deny anything, especially since the video evidence was clear on everything. After Prime calmed down enough, he let Amy explain her actions. In her situation, Amy saw no other choice but to activate the one called Starscream, there was no way she could of survived fighting that abomination on her own. Prime countered by asking why she just didn't teleport to the ship's C&C, where she would've been safe. Amy had no answer, and was thus requested by Optimus Prime to leave. Serena, walked Amy to the outpost's exit, and told her to wait at her house with the others.

The door opened, and entered the married couple as they exhaled in relief to finally being back at home. Both threw their coats on the kitchen table, and sat with the others who have been eagerly waiting of what was said.

"So, whats the word?" Queried Lita.

The tired eyed Serena looked over at her husband, and motioned to him to answer.

"Optimus Prime is pretty pissed. As are the Autobots as well." Came his answer, and he went on. "This...Starscream was a VERY BIG deal for them, and his....release.." he stopped by Amy's interruption.

"I didn't release him!" She protested. "I was gonna be killed if I didn't..."

"That's not how many of them saw it." Replied a calm voiced Darien. "The video footage showed that during the shock, and confusion, you teleported directly to the room Starscream was held, and activated him. Then you both made your way to the cargo bay, and after the monster was killed, Starscream knelt down and whispered something to you, then he got away. And you made no attempt to stop him."

"Honey!" Bellowed Serena at her husband. "You make it sound she did it all on purpose!"

"Im not saying that, Serena!" He hastily replied. "Im just saying, that's how THEY saw it."

Lita glanced over to Amy, whom sat next to her, and could see she was very upset, and struggled to hold back the tears. She saw Amy's trembling hands, and put a compassionate grip on them, though it made the her burst out.

"It's not fair!" Shouted Amy. "They're angry because I wanted to stay alive!? That thing was bashing on the doors, and I didn't know if any Autobots were coming, so I made my decision considering the circumstance!"

"Optimus kept asking why you didn't just teleport to the C&C. They said you would've been safe there." Said Darien.

"I don't know, Darien! I just...acted." Bellowed the upset woman.

"Amy. Serena and I both know you didn't aid that Decepticon escape. No one here does." Retorted the mellow voiced man. "It wasn't a complete witch hunt though. At the end Prime calmed down, and said though he sure didn't agree with the choice you made, he understood why. Just stay away from him and the Autobots for the time being. Prime's instructions, not mine."

"So I'm going to be out of the loop for everything?"

"Not everything. Serena and I made it clear that we need everyone in the battles." He explained after a sip of alcohol. "It's the only thing Optimus relented on. Believe me Amy, we tried our best to smooth things out, but this incident just really set them off."

The discussion about the stressful meeting went on for several more minutes. They couldn't believe how close the alliance came to an end because of this affair. Many of the Autobots wanted Optimus to scrap the deal right there and then. Some called for him to contact Fleet Admirals Seaspray, and Broadside, and order them to dispatch the Dreadnought fleet to Earth. There were even voices who wanted Mercury put into custody, and have her charged with defecting to the enemy, and high treason.

The women constantly bombarded Darien, and Serena with question, but exhaustion was getting the best of the couple, and they decided to call it a night. Raye was too tipsy to drive so she got a lift with Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru. Lita gave Amy a drive back to her apartment, and tried to ease her stress.

"Don't worry too much about it." Reassured the tall brunette. "It'll all blow over sooner or later."

"...Yeah." Replied Amy as she tried to keep herself from crying.

"Your life was in danger and you had to do something to save it. If that Star...what ever his name is, is so important to the Autobots, then they'll go after him again."

"If I tell you something, will you keep it to yourself? I don't want the Autobots to know, and get into even more trouble with them." She weakly asked.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Just before Starscream escaped, he whispered something to me. Some kind of warning I guess."

Lita cocked an eyebrow, and nodded for her to continue.

"He said; You allied yourselves with the Autobots. Be very careful."

That got an odd reaction from the green eyed woman, she wondered why would an enemy say such an odd thing about their ally. They reached Amy's home, and Lita gave her a sympathetic hug, hoping it'll up her spirit a little.

"I got your back, and I always will, Ames." Lita softly spoke.

Amy giggled a little. "Thanks. Take care, too tall."

Beryl looked into the eyes of the one she loved, the shock of the sharp, stabbing pain in her chest practically paralyzed her movements. A couple of tears emerged when she blinked, and began to realise what had happened. The one she loved with all her heart thrusted his sword into her. Darien kept pressure on the weapon, then twisted it before finally pulling it out. He grabbed Beryl as she slowly collapsed to the ground, and stared on as her life slowly drained away.

He narrowed his eyes, and angerly revieled to the foolish woman. "I, nor will ANYBODY would ever love or even care for a monster like YOU!"

Darien let go of his fallen adversary, and teleported away, leaving Beryl to her death. Blood burst from her mouth when she coughed, she could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Jedite knelt next to her, and quickly covered her gaping wound with his hands.

"Beryl, holy crap." He said in a soft tone. "We'll get you out of here my Queen, just hold on."

"MALACHITE!" Yelled out the concerned general. "GET US THE HELL OUTTA HERE!"

Beryl suddenly sat up in her bed and deeply gasped. She looked at her surroundings, and relaxed once she realised she was in her own room. It was that dream again. The woman slid her hand over the scar just above her heart, no matter how much it has healed, it could never heal the emotional, and mental trauma of that faithful day. She rubbed her moist eyes, and decided to take a small stroll around the domain to see what her ally is up too.

She entered a newly excavated cavern, and caught the attention of one of her own generals conversing with the Decepticon master. She tried not to show her true emotions as she appraoched the strategists.

"Beryl." Said Malachite at the un-expected sight of the Dark Queen. "I thought you retired to your quarters."

"Couldn't sleep." She replied softly. "What are you two conspiring about?"

"Megatron, and I have been talking, and we believe it will be best for Jedite, Nephlite, Zoycite, and I to be escorted by a Decepticon when we're out in the field. You probably remember how close the Sailor Soldiers came to killing Jedite at the Mars Reiko concert just days ago."

"Very well."

"If you two would excuse me. I have to tell Zoycite about her mission." Said Malachite as he noticed the upset demeanor in his Queen's face.

"Blackout will meet her at the agreed place, and will have everything she'll need." Replied Megatron just before his counterpart left.

The Decepticon master looked down at the tired eyed woman, she seemed to be staring off into nothingness, like in a dream like state, but with your eyes still open. The imposing mech observed the trance like woman for a moment, but then decided to break the awkward silence.

"Something I can help you with Beryl?"

"Oh!" Came reply as he popped out of the clouds. "Just...remembering the past....and learning from it."

He knew there was more to it, but seeing at how much that memory bothered her, Megatron decided it would be best to leave it be. If she wants to talk to him about it, she'll do it when she's ready.

"I've heard from Malachite, that your Decepticons have found a suitable place for a base of operations." She said. "Leave us so soon?"

"No my dear Beryl, we're not leaving you." Chuckled the large mech. "It's always wise to have more than one base. Incase yours gets discovered, and destroyed, you'll have a place to fall back too. Thundercracker, and Skywarp found this particular place during their mapping mission. Scrapper believes that with simple expansion of the tunnels, and reinforcement of the buildings, it will be very suitable for our needs."

She looked at the hologram provided by a nearby computer console, and recognized the island formation. "Hashima Island, also called Battleship Island. Yes, it's an abandoned mining facility. Far away from prying eyes, and travel there is prohibited by law. You can actually use it?"

"Once the Constructicons have finished modifying the place, we'll be able to accomodate more Decepticon forces on this planet."

"Speaking of forces, Megatron. What did you do with the mutated creature we had? We put alot of effort into it, then you had Malachite teleport that insane thing to the Autobot vessel. It was excellent when it fought the Sailors, sowed complete terror into them."

"Oh it's dead. I sent it there on a suicide mission."

"Why!? That creature was an essential asset in our conflict!"

"To show the Autobots that we can strike them where ever they are. Not even their own vessels in orbit are a safe haven now. To keep them off balance, and second guess their surroundings. War just isn't about attacking and killing you enemy, it's also to get inside his head, and screw with it."

*Lord Megatron. Presence in command room: required.*

"On my way, Soundwave." Replied to the communication officer's request. "Care to join me, Beryl?"

She nodded, and walked onto the mechanical hand where it perched the redhead on his shoulder.

"What is it, Soundwave?" Asked the Decepticon master upon entering the large excavated cavern.

"Lord Megatron. We have scanned transmissions from the Autobot vessel after the creature you sent there was destroyed, and have found an interesting communique."

Both Decepticon, and Dark Queen glared at the holoscreen, though she had no idea what any of that flowing data meant. However, Megatron found something out of place.

"What is that particular stream, Soundwave?"

"An email communique, Lord Megatron."

The Decepticon master found that quite odd, especially coming from an Autobot vessel. No Cybertronian would use such a limited method of communication.

"No Decepticon, hell, not even the Autobots use such a method. So just who would send such a thing?"

"Unknown, Lord Megatron."

"A Sailor Soldier by the sound of it." Interrupted Beryl. "They are known to use many technological devices in battle as well as tracking our movements and whereabouts. It has to be one of them, I'm sure of it."

"Sounds very likely." Added Rumble from his station. "They are allied with the Autobots, and one or more might of been aboard the Autobot ship when you sent that creature."

Megatron pondered this latest development, from the sounds of it, and data at hand it would make sense that a Sailor Soldier was on the ship, and that individual sent the email transmission.

"We should find that Sailor and capture her. Bring her under our influence, and then use her." Announced the Dark Queen.

"What would be the point of that my dear?" Queried a curious Megatron.

"War isn't just about attacking, and killing your enemy. It's also about getting in their head, and screw with it." She said with a sadistic grin.

"I like the way you think." Agreed the Decepticon master. "Soundwave, do we know how sent it?"

"Perhaps, my Lord."

The holoscreen showed the email address of the sender, and Megatron pondered where to begin. There are billions of email addresses on this planet, and looking for this particular person would be very difficult. He needed the best to hunt down this particular person, and Megatron knew exactly who to task it to.

"Barricade!" Called the large mech over the long range communications system. "I am sending you all the information we have on a person of interest."

*Receiving instructions my Lord.* Replied the Decepticon hunter over the airwaves. *Done. Information received.*

"Find oceanpearl217!" Commanded Megatron.

*It will be done, my Lord.*

Soundwave turned to his master with some, well....urgent news. "Lord Megatron. Your presence in the receiving area: required."

"It's late, Soundwave. My energy leves are low, can't it wait?"

"Negative. Urgent development."

The large silver mech, annoyed at the constant interruptions exhaled deeply. As much as he wanted to retire for the time being, he thought whats one more interruption. With the Dark Queen still safely perched on his shoulder, Megatron gathered his wits and made his way to the receiving area.

He, and Beryl looked around the place upon reaching their destination, but don't see anything out of the ordinary. Astrotrain was speaking to the Constructicons, the group of mechs halted their chat once they noticed Megatron. He demanded to know what was so urgent, but was only met with confusing speech, and broken sentences. They're hiding something, Megatron knew it which only angered him. All he wants to do is retire, and recharge his energy levels, but these idiots just seem to enjoy screwing around with him.

"None of you are making any sense to me! What do you want, I don't get it!?"

"Thats always been your problem, f-ckatron." Came a calm, screechy voice from the shadows. "You've never been one to make sense of a situation."

Megatron's optics opened their widest from hearing that ominous voice. He didn't want to believe it, but his logic center kept telling him it was. He focused his attention, as did Beryl, on a mechanical form that emerged from a darkened part of the cavern, the one individual he knew he would never see again slowly walked right up to him, and gave its signature, sarcastic grin.

"Starscream." Said Megatron once he recognized the badly damaged Seeker, then narrowed his optics, and deepened his voice. "You're suppose to be dead."

"I'm so sad to disapoint you." Answered the sarcastic Starscream after he spat out a mouth full of liquid onto the floor. "You must be the monarch of this...grand place. Beryl, is it?"

"What the hell are you doing here!? Just how did you escape from the Autobots?" Interrogated the silver mech when he looked over the Seeker's heavily broken body.

"A helpful individual released me. But thats a story for later." Replied Starscream with his menacing grin. "All that matters now is.....I'm baaaaaack."