"Time to jet! Because I can!"

Transforming swiftly, the silver mech flew out of the hanger as soon as he could. Leaving the Autobot behind. His engines roared with delight as his words echoed in his processor. Surely Bumblebee was now devastated with his t-cog now scrap metal. Not even Ratchet could fix the damage he inflicted. Physical or emotional.

Despite his internal cheering, his thoughts returned to the task at hand as he did remember Cylas was looking forward to reusing that piece of machine he just destroyed. No matter, he could sway the human to be patient. After all, the first victim was foolish enough to fall into such a primitive trap, why not try it on the Decepticons for next round. Perhaps Breakdown would fall into it, make his dissection complete and finish his miserable life.

Starscream spies the humans that had ran off ahead of him and went in for a landing. His ped near close to squishing the human in charge of them. Shrugging it off, Cylas, the one in charge, looks into the eyes of the seeker.

"My t-cog," he demanded.

Starscream pratically expected this to happen. If not predicted every word. "Yes, that. Unfortunately it was destroyed in the heat of battle."

Unexpectedly the human scowled angerly. His scarred face showing his distaste in such a failure. The seeker felt the intimidating emotion springing up from him. Okay, so he was going to mind. No big deal, he could still persuade him.

"A temporary setback," he said, "other Autobots, other t-cogs. We shall find a replacement soon enough."

"Not soon. Now."

Humans surrounded the seeker with their weapons aimed and ready. Scrap, he messed up badly. There was no way out of this one. Until a sudden shake interrupted them. The trees began to shake and tremble before they started to wiggle and move fluidly. The plant life suddenly began to pierce into the humans one by one causing a panic. The group was unsure what this was and merely turned their attention to the attacker. Taking this chance, the seeker rushed away and flew off in his jet mode. Clearly there was a mistake in trusting these humans. Whatever that phenomenon was saved his spark. Starscream kept note of that moment and flew off towards a safer hiding spot.

A dark cave opened wide to swallow the light that poured in from the opening. Echoing the sounds of water dripping from its stalactites to the floor. All while a shadow loomed over the entrance indicating that someone was walking in. It was Starscream who was wandering into the belly of the cavern looking for any sort of sign of life if not a spec of energon. The call he got earlier was of questionable reliability, but none the less, he figured to give it a chance despite his dire situation.

The darkness of the hole in Earth was mysterious as it drew in the seeker. Deeper he went with his bare optics glancing around for the promised loot. His patience was thin and did not want to waste time on such things. He groaned at the sight of empty nothingness.

"Honestly, of all the things to happen today," he mumbled, "if Megatron wanted to kill me, his assassin should have stuck it's blade in by now."

"Now that would just ruin the fun!"

The voice was familiar. It was the same one that instructed him to come here. Swiftly he aimed his arm blaster and his rocket at the source of the noise. What he was not expecting to find was the form of his mysterious caller. It was a Cybertronian for sure, but she was a very small one. Not small enough to be a minicon, but it was strange how close the heights were. The frame resembled a femme for sure but the color was a hot pink with some golden accents around her joints. She had round disks on her head as well along with a thin coil tail. Her posture was relaxed as she smiled widely with light pink optics looking back at him.

Unsure how to react to such a look, Starscream stood his ground and started asking questions. "What is this, some sort of joke?"

"I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you," the femme replied, "besides, I'm more hurt that you came all this way and you think I would lie to you." She displayed a sad face to express a innocent hurt that she was clearly joking with.

"I have yet to see the promised loot you expressed," he commented, still keeping his weapons fixated on her.

"Oh, duh," she said, slapping her forehead, "I nearly forgot. That's why your so cautious. Here." Pulling out from behind her was a small shard of blue crystal.

Immediately the seeker recognized the energon, but scowled deeply. "This was a waste of my time!"

"Looks can be deceiving."

With the snap of her left arm, the crystal on her right suddenly grew in size to a much larger chunk. One that was certainly a handful for the seeker and just enough for a day. Though he was no longer focused on what he was promised and was more interested in her little trick. Something about it seemed off. Like he had seen something close to this strangeness before. Thinking back, he did seem to remember something happen to him not too long ago.

"I'm certain this is what you were looking for," she said with a giggle, "but I'm sure you want more than that."

"What sort of trickery is this!"

"One that I'm only willing to share the secrets with trusted partners. But considering your position, I think I can make a seat for you."

Slowly his weapons are placed away, the seeker approached her with aggression. "And what makes you think that I would take orders from a short stack like you?"

A rumble and thudding ped step stopped him in his tracks as another mech steps out of the shadows. It was large. Large enough to be close in Megatron's height. His arms were bulky and heavy. On all fours, the navy blue mech walked up to him with this glare in his purple optics. To which the seeker steps back with a squeak.

"Cog, no," the femme said, standing in front of him, "He's a friend! Not an enemy."

"He talks too much," the mech said in a deep voice. One that could intimidate anyone who heard it.

"He's perfect though," she tried to explain, "perfect for the mission at hand. After all, who else can fool Megadark for us?"

The seeker raised an optic brow at the nickname. "What do you mean 'fool Megadark'? Is this refering to Megatron?"

"The one and only!"

"And what exactly do I have to gain from this?"

"Perhaps the power to restore your dead planet," she said with a smile.

Starscream stared at her with wide optics. Such an offer seemed tempting. Even if it had some unknown factors, there were certainly strange things that these two were involved with that could help him in the future. Not to mention their shared enemy was also a pleasant coincidence. It was settled. All he had to do was play along and make this his move.

"You do seem to have an interesting arsenals," he says, trying to coax them into thinking this was going to be hard to convince him, "so why not. But I would assume this means that once Megatron is dealt with, I get control over the Decepticons."

"Why have it any other way, Silverstar?"

Tarn was prepping his weapons as he was walking down the halls. Dreadwing and Aracnid were suppose to meet up with him at Soundwave's station. Their plans were to lure her into the woods far enough to cut her down before she was able to strike back. The variables were there, and Tarn did not know much about her either. So caution would have to be key to succeed. With only so much time to prepare, he had to make sure he was working on his feet with this one.

Seeing his two objectives ahead, he places on his mask. "It would seem that the three of us are working together," Tarn said, playing up the act Dreadwing suggested.

"Soundwave is prepping the ground bridge," replied Dreadwing.

"Seems a bit overkill for an energon scouting mission," the spider said, "I can always have a few guards attend to me."

"There is no need," said Dreadwing, "we must work quickly if you are wishing this to be over with."

The vortex opens up while Arachnid scoffs and heads out first. Tarn waited behind as to see if Dreadwing wanted to enter first. After an exchanged look, the two hop through together. Upon arriving the two looked around. The woods they entered in was thick and spread far. There was at least some room to move around, but the plant life could not allow the group to see any sort of nearby civilization. Though what was concerning was that their target was missing.

"She knows," mumbled Dreadwing.

The two were now on high alert as they kept their optics open for any attacks by the spider. The trees surrounding them was a disadvantage as it gave more hiding spots for her to blend into. Tarn pulled both of his blades out in defense and slows his ventilation. If this really was an ambush, he needed to keep his cool to make a move. Silence was all that remained at first until a rustle of leaves signaled Arachnid was going in.

All at once, her legs came flying in as it heads for the spark of Dreadwing. The blue mech moves away as Tarn uses his swords to block the attack and go after her. The two locked into combat with her legs swinging and jabbing at the con. When Tarn found himself in a tight moment, he slipped back for Dreadwing to engage fire with his cannon. The spider backed up to the trees once more and disappears. She was getting smart.

"Attacking and hiding seems to be a cowardly way of accepting your fate," Dreadwing said aloud.

"You think I would just roll over and play dead," she replied acting coy, "you should know I am always three steps ahead."

She goes for another attack on Dreadwing, now firing webbing at the seeker pinning him to a tree. He was stuck until Tarn freed him. Which meant that the two were facing each other alone. Standing his ground, the Decepticon kept his blades in defense while the spider waited in the shadows.

"Why wear the mask all of a sudden, Tarn," she asked sweetly, "are you hiding something from me?" He did not answer her call. Only remained in position. "Do you intend to fight me alone? Or are you going to call that fool here to come finish me off? So many choices, so many outcomes."

The tension was thick as he waited. Arachnid wanted him to fear her. To back down. To get angry. But he did his best not to. Instead, he prepared himself as he slowly places his swords away.

"Fool!"

She goes in for the attack and pins him to the ground. Her legs raise up to finish the job until Tarn frees his own arm and aims it directly at her face. He did not fire, but he knew she wouldn't either. It was a stalemate. Either they both strike, or they do nothing at all. The two remain still while she lowers her own legs.

"It would seem you are a skillful warrior," she says, "I shall remember that."

"You will," he answers back.

She stands up slowly as he gets up himself. The two stare down as though her fate was sealed. However, the victory was short as a loud whinny noise broke their tension. Looking up the three see something that was certainly new. It was a Cybertronian, one that was in the form of a beetle.

Ah, the tides turn before long. The battle shall continue on indeed. Also, yes, OC's. As much as I was concerned about revealing this part of the plot, I do hope this makes things more interesting further down the road. I am always glad to get feedback on my work, so thank you. Also, keep an optic out for a new work I am making. It is just something fun to write on the side while I continue preparing this tale.

Until then, I'm rising up and rolling out!