We've made it to chapter twelve! Megatron is not a happy mech right now, with good reason of course. I keep wondering if I'm over doing him a bit or the violence in general. I guess it just gets down to the fact that Starscream isn't there for him to take out his anger on. Anyway, on with the story.

Warning: Violence

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine; I'm not getting paid for this.


Dead silence filled the Nemesis as the Decepticons nervously awaited the return of their leader. Ramjet, Onslaught, and the Triple Changers stood in the Command Center with Soundwave watching them. The Triple Changers were the only ones without injury, though they doubted that would last. Why had they listened to Ramjet?

The majority of the army was in the med bay in need of extensive repairs. Hook had begun attending to the most severe cases, until he was ordered to leave them as they were. Megatron had contacted the base from Cybertron, informing them of his return. Everyone could tell he was angry; slag, he seemed utterly furious. If any Decepticon had doubts about Megatron's ability to gather information, they didn't anymore. How in the Pit had he found out so quickly? Soundwave hadn't had time to inform him of what happened.

The Communication's Officer kept his unique abilities on full alert, anticipating Megatron's arrival. The room's occupants were concerned with their injuries and the inevitable punishment. Onslaught's right servo hung limp at his side with exposed circuitry adorning the upper half. Ramjet repeatedly looked at his cockpit, which was decorated with countless spider web cracks.

Astrotrain let out a bored sigh, causing the others to glare at him as a low growl filled the room. Near the entrance stood a giant yellow spark demon with two red eyes glaring at them, Kremzeek. The energy born imp repeatedly altered his size and was now as tall as Megatron. Of all the things for the tyrant to keep as a pet; he had certainly created a monster. No one in the room dared to make a sudden move as the creature watched them suspiciously.

Everyone turned their attention to the opening door as Megatron entered, followed by Thundercracker and Skywarp. Kremzeek instantly shrank down and leapt onto the gun former's shoulder to begin hugging his neck cables. The two Seekers stood beside Soundwave. Megatron, ignoring his destructive pet for the moment, turned to the tape deck.

"Is this it?" Megatron inquired, rage already visible.

"Negative," Soundwave droned out. "Other culprits; in med bay for repairs. Present Decepticons; probable organizer of sabotage attempt."

Megatron snorted at this and walked over to address the traitors. The tape deck cringed behind his faceguard and visor; he was not used to being an object of his leader's rage. The culprits stood at attention, not daring to look their leader in the optic for fear of setting him off. Blitzwing attempted to distract himself by watching Kremzeek continue to hug Megatron. It didn't do anything to calm his nerves; Megatron was probably the only mech who could look intimidating while a human sized electricity imp was affectionately clinging to his neck.

The Decepticon leader's murderous gaze bore into each of them as he paced the room. Kremzeek moved onto the floor to watch its master handle the traitors. Megatron leveled his gaze with the Triple Changers, their energy fields betrayed their panic and fear. The silver tyrant took a few steps toward them, trying and failing to keep the built up anger out of his movements.

"Thundercracker and Skywarp," he glanced toward the Seekers. "Restrain the other two."

The two vanished in a flash of purple and reappeared behind Ramjet and Onslaught. Skywarp captured the Conehead's hands and pulled him to the opposite side of the room from Soundwave, quickly mimicked by Thundercracker with Onslaught. The Triple Changers attempted to back away from their leader, nearly falling against his throne.

"What kind of fool do you take me for?" Megatron spat as his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. The gun former resumed pacing in front of them. "I should have suspected as much after your last coup attempt, but turning half my army against me."

"Sir, that was stellar cycles ago," Blitzwing attempted to reason. "We were just the look out. It was all…"

"Silence," Megatron roared, his order accompanied by a blast from his fusion cannon that connected with Blitzwing's left shoulder.

The Triple Changer hit the floor clutching his shoulder. Megatron loomed over him with his cannon preparing for a second attack. Astrotrain moved between his leader and comrade to intercept the blast. The shuttle was forced back slightly, but remained standing as Megatron advanced. The gun former struck Astrotrain in the face with the barrel of his cannon. Blitzwing attempted to scurry away from the confrontation as the tyrant advanced on his fallen friend. Megatron grabbed the fleeing Triple Changer's right wing while stepping on Astrotrain's neck cables.

The other occupants of the Command Center cringed in horror. Skywarp and Thundercracker were so distracted that they had released their captives. Ramjet and Onslaught hadn't even realized they were no longer restrained as they found themselves unable to look away. Kremzeek had taken refuge behind Soundwave's right leg. The blue tape deck was attempting to read the thoughts of the Triple Changers.

This was an entirely new experience for the telepath. As hard as Soundwave tried, he was unable to access their processors. He knew they weren't blocking him out; Megatron's thoughts were interfering with his abilities. His leader's processor was like a black hole dragging him in no matter whose thoughts he originally tried to acquire. The entire room seemed to swirl with Megatron's bloodlust.

Blitzwing cried out as his wing was detached and thrown across the room. Astrotrain hid against the throne on all fours attempting to catch his breath. Megatron began twisting Blitzwing's other wing as the Triple Changer pleaded. The other four occupants had moved to a far corner of the room. Skywarp debated about teleporting out, but was too afraid of drawing attention to himself and Thundercracker. The back of the throne crumbled to the floor as Blitzwing made contact with it.

"Sir, please, this is all just a big misunderstanding," Astrotrain mistakenly made his presence known. "We won't do it again."

"No, you won't," Megatron's voice was barely audible before he punched Astrotrain. The Triple Changer fell back onto the floor, his right optic shattered and energon running down his chin. "After your coup attempt I took measures to stop any future attempts. Now it's clear to me that I went about it all wrong."

The tyrant stopped as he felt a servo on his right shoulder. Soundwave stood beside his leader trying to calm him down. The tape deck received little more than a glare from his leader and fearful looks from the others. The telepath hid his unease behind his facemask. He knew he was about to do one of the stupidest things he had ever thought of in his life.

"Triple Changers; understand their error," Soundwave was having trouble looking Megatron in the optic. "Conspirators; acting under orders."

"Under orders?" Megatron roared. "They shouldn't even know about Star…"

The tyrant averted his gaze to the four mechs huddled in the far corner. A snarl erupted from his vocalizer as he locked onto Ramjet. The Conehead visibly shrank back into the small crowd. Soundwave's hand was still latched onto the silver shoulder, preventing Megatron from advancing on the jet.

"This is all your doing," he growled.

"Negative," Soundwave brought his leader's attention back to him. The tape deck quickly prepared himself for the consequences of his words. "Soundwave; organized attack on Megatron's quarters. Ramjet; meant to take fall. Soundwave; manipulated Ramjet's desire for higher position and hatred for Starscream. Soundwave; felt it would help Megatron if resurrection of Starscream failed."

Silence filled the room as everyone stared at the telepath. Megatron's rage had quickly turned into confusion as he stared blankly at his once loyal Communication's Officer. It was no surprise that Soundwave was capable of such things, but to use it against his leader to whom he was supposedly loyal to a fault. Skywarp was the first to break the silence.

"You slagger," he yelled while Thundercracker attempted to hold him back, resulting in various curses.

"Skywarp," Megatron brought the purple Seeker out of his rant. "You and Thundercracker are to take the others to the med bay. Tell Hook to repair the other Constructicons first, but to no more than sixty percent efficiency. I want to know when all of them are back online."

The Seekers gave a brief salute before moving to help the Triple Changers to their feet. Skywarp glared at Soundwave as they headed for the door. Ramjet and Onslaught were the first ones out of the Command Center. Kremzeek hopped onto Megatron's shoulder as the gun former returned his attention to Soundwave.

"Go guard what's left of my quarters," the gun former told the electricity imp as he gave it a quick pat on the head. The monstrosity squeaked happily before darting into one of the monitors and zipping through the circuitry of the underwater base.

Soundwave stood silently awaiting the punishment he would receive from his leader. The silver mech had already gathered his mental defenses to block the telepath from reading his next move. Soundwave cast his gaze to the floor as Megatron glanced at the damage to his throne. He really wasn't looking forward to seeing what shape his private quarters were in right now.

"How long did you plan for this?" Megatron began with a bored tone.

"Starscream's reconstruction," Soundwave replied. "Soundwave; needed scapegoat."

"It's always the one you least expect," Megatron complained as he rubbed between his optics.

He stopped abruptly and looked at his hand as if it had offended his creator. The former gladiator clenched it into a fist and punched Soundwave. The tape deck slowly got back to his feet. Barely an inch separated them as Megatron glared at the telepath.

"Since this is a first for you, Soundwave, this is a warning," Megatron stated. He jabbed his finger at the tape deck, touching Soundwave's chassis. "Don't even think about trying such things again. It won't just be your spark on the line."

The faceguard hid the telepath's shocked expression at the threat. The gun former knew Soundwave's weakness all too well, his cassettes. This was certainly an orn of firsts for the Decepticon Army. Soundwave submissively bowed his head. The silver mech allowed himself a moment to compare his Communication's Officer to a scolded organic pet. Quickly deciding that he spent too much time talking with Starscream.

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The truck former impatiently glared at the dark screen. Optimus Prime stood in front of the blank monitor trying to contact the Autobots on Earth. It had been at least two cycles since he was informed of Megatron returning to Earth and enough time had been wasted in the med bay. Prime knew his nemesis was up to something, he just had to find out what exactly. All he knew for sure was that it didn't bode well for the Autobots if Megatron succeeded in this plan.

The screen blipped and finally displayed the Earth Autobot's base. A disgruntled metallic tyrannosaur stared back at the Prime. The Dinobot leader transformed and continued glaring at Optimus with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Grimlock, I need to talk with Ultra Magnus," Prime stated calmly.

"Me, Grimlock, going to Cybertron," the Dinobot demanded.

The Autobot leader rubbed between his optics to try to subdue the oncoming processor ache. He didn't have time to argue with the tyrannosaur. "Alright, Grimlock. Get me Magnus and we can get you to Cybertron."

The Dinobot disappeared from view. A few kliks later Grimlock returned shoving Ultra Magnus up to the monitor. Judging from the groans of protest from the Autobot, he was most likely interrupted from recharge. Ultra Magnus stopped complaining once he saw his brother on screen.

"Optimus?" He asked groggily.

"Megatron has returned to Earth," Prime decided to get straight to the point.

"Never mind deal," Grimlock declared off screen. "Me, Grimlock, no want go to Cybertron now."

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"You're all idiots," Hook said as he finished repairing Scrapper's leg.

The med bay doors opened to their leader. All movement stopped as the tyrant entered the room. Those still awaiting repairs did their best to appear invisible as Megatron stood in front of Hook. The appointed Decepticon CMO saluted his leader, mimicked by the two Seekers who had been assisting him.

"How much longer will these repairs take?" Megatron demanded as he glared at the Constructicon.

"I'm almost done readjusting Scrapper's limb," Hook replied a bit nervously. "After that I need to run a scan of his systems and…"

"How much time will it take without the scan?" Megatron interrupted.

"Scrapper will be up to your previously stated efficiency in a few kliks," Hook said. "I still need to work on Bonecrusher's arm. Everyone should be ready in a cycle."

"You will finish repairing Scrapper, and then the other Constructicons will begin repairing my quarters," Megatron stated.

Muffled curses could be heard from behind the silver gun former. Megatron snapped his head around to glare at Bonecrusher who had been glaring at the back of his leader's head. The Constructicon flinched slightly, waiting for the silver helm to make a full three-sixty. They stared each other down for several kliks.

"You want to repeat that, Bonecrusher?" Megatron inquired through gritted denta.

"Slave driver," the Constructicon suddenly stood and yelled at the gun former before he could stop himself.

The room was eerily silent as everyone waited for Megatron's reaction. Bonecrusher's optics widened as he registered what he just did, wanting nothing more than to bolt out the door. Megatron took hold of the exposed wires on the bulldozer's shoulder. Bonecrusher bit down on his glossa to stop himself from screaming as his leader roughly pulled him closer.

"While it's refreshing to know not all of you are sniveling cowards," Megatron spoke as if he were talking to a child. His calm demeanor quickly vanished as he snarled at the Constructicon. "I will not tolerate this open defiance all of you have turned to. You are my soldiers, my army, and I will use each of you however I see fit. You pledged your loyalty to the Decepticon cause, to the army, to ME vorns ago. My patience is thin; this stupidity will end, now. You will either fall in line, or I will terminate every last one of you if need be."

The Decepticon leader released Bonecrusher with a rough shove. The Constructicon fell to the floor clutching his damaged shoulder. Megatron schooled his expression into one of indifference before turning back to Hook. The makeshift medic failed in an attempt to seem unafraid of his leader's attention.

"Inform Soundwave once you finish with these idiots," Megatron ordered then walked out the door.

The silver mech headed through the corridors, his processor filled with thoughts of homicide. He stopped abruptly and punched the unsuspecting wall, leaving a sizeable dent. It hardly satisfied him. Maybe he should blast it, put a nice hole in the wall just to relieve stress. No, that would just add to the things that needed repaired in his base.

The silence wasn't helping his mood. For one reason or another he wished Starscream was there, even if the little glitch was just mocking him. Could he be missing the annoying Seeker? That was absurd, and even if there was that tiny possibility…no, there was none, no reason at all. Still, that screechy voice hadn't graced his audios for sometime. Not since meeting Nightbird again.


R&R