CHAPTER 19

The Decepticons didn't find any more Autobots from the ruins, dead or alive. Instead, the Vehicons had uncovered Airachnid in a stasis pod (Starscream was filled with contempt), and a large golden hammer known as the Forge of Solus Prime, which caused an outburst from Megatron and Starscream - the Seeker had not seen it before, but assumed the Decepticons had already been in possession of it due to Megatron's reaction, so he played along. After the failed search, Megatron and Starscream walked away from the burning ruins in the afternoon sun, discussing the missing Autobots, all while gazing at the tall, ominous yet majestic four-armed Darkmount Citadel in the horizon.

"The Autobots clearly GroundBridged out from their base before it was destroyed," Megatron concluded as they walked among the boulders. "They could be anywhere."

"We must initiate global surveillance, my lord," Starscream contributed. "Send search-and-destroy teams to every sector of this planet."

Megatron turned on his comm. to communicate with the Nemesis. "Soundwave, monitor all Earth-based transmissions for any sign of Autobot communication - with each other or with their human counterparts."

Starscream restrained from smiling. For once Megatron actually listened to him - albeit modifying his proposal a bit - which he found most delightful. Something then caught his attention in the corner of his optic, and he witnessed.

"Master," he remarked, getting Megatron's attention. They both stopped and looked in the same direction.

From the horizon they saw an army of tanks and helicopters rushing towards them. Humans. Now that he was back with the Decepticons - and standing right next to Megatron - the small fleshlings didn't seem so intimidating anymore, even in their aircrafts and land vehicles. Not that he ever found them intimidating, that is, but that one event with MECH really gave him quite a shock. Still, now that he was back in the fold, his vision of humans being small, squishy and helpless had returned to him.

"Foolish humans," he said and shook his head. "I shall deploy the armada." He loved hearing himself saying that. He was so excited about his new, own army that he would even waste them on 'foolish humans' like these. But Megatron had other ideas.

"That won't be necessary, Starscream. Not when we can engage our enemy with newfound might. Engage the western cannon!"

The last part was said over the comm., and as they gazed upon Darkmount, one of the four 'arms' lowered, pointing at the incoming human military army. As the cannon charged up with green plasma energy, they observed as the beam hit the ground without actually causing any damage. The next nano-cycle, however, the beam started to pull the tanks and helicopters into a large ball, surrounded by the plasma energy. There was silence and stillness for a moment, then broken by an explosion causing tanks and helicopters to fly off in every direction, some of which exploded after colliding with the ground or a cliff wall.

Megatron and Starscream both laughed at the sight.

"You see, Starscream? No one can stop us now, especially the Autobots, now that they are scattered and homeless."

"And when we find them, it will be easy to simply crush them into debris and stomp their human pets like bugs!"

"Yes," Megatron said and transformed. "But we still have one more thing to do before we can proceed to phase two."

Starscream transformed and followed Megatron to Darkmount, at the spire, standing taller than the clouds. A throne had been placed in one end while the rest of the platform was empty. They switched to robot mode, and Megatron sat down on his throne while Starscream gazed at the view. He could see all the way to Jasper, the human town in which Soundwave had learned the Autobots' human pets lived in, thus figuring out that their base had been nearby. The town was completely devastated from the explosion earlier, and loads of tanks and helicopter wrecks were scattered in the area. The orange afternoon sky had switched to dark clouds with thunder sounding and glimpses of lightning being seen now and then. Starscream glanced from the view to his master, sitting on the throne, seemingly waiting for something.

"Master?"

"I am calling Agent Fowler of the human military, so do not disturb me the next few minutes, Starscream."

The Seeker was about to ask why he was calling the human he had once kidnapped in an attempt to extract the same information regarding the location of the Autobot base as Soundwave had just recently acquired, but then Megatron started talking to the air, and Starscream realized he was speaking to the human over the comm.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Agent Fowler, so good to hear you."

"Megatron? How did you get on this channel? And how dare you call us after what you did to Jasper-"

"What happened to your human town is rather your own fault than mine. Your army assaulted us. I had no choice but to retaliate."

"That doesn't justify anything. I swear, when the Autobots hear about this, they will-"

"You know as well as I do that the Autobot base has been destroyed. No one left after the explosion. The Autobots are gone. It is now only Decepticons and humans."

Starscream watched Megatron and listened to his conversation. He couldn't hear what the human was saying to him, but he could easily imagine what was being said.

"A new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me will be met with even greater force. Your leader should be advised that my fusion cannons posses enough firepower to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing. I would in all likelihood set sights on your nation's capital, for starters."

"Point taken, now what do you want from us?"

"Nothing, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity. We merely desire a place to call home."

"No offense, Megatron, but I'm having a tough time swallowing all this, since you seem so bent on plastering humankind under molten steel!"

"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race...peacefully."

While speaking, Starscream smiled in amusement, impressed by Megatron's diplomatic skills. He had only seen his deceptive side once before, on Cybertron, shortly after Starscream and the other Seekers joined the Decepticons. It had been eons ago though, and Starscream often questioned whether or not Megatron actually had any 'deception' in him to make him a true 'Decepticon'. Right here in this moment, however, his doubts were washed away and replaced with admiration for his leader.

"Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality." Without waiting for a reply, Megatron turned off the comm. and rose from his throne. Starscream clapped his servos together in metallic clings as he walked past him.

"You too have a way with words, master," he said and followed Megatron to the edge of the platform to look at the view. "I almost believed you myself."

Megatron chuckled by the Seeker's remark. "Earth is our planet now, Starscream, and we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them." He glanced at Starscream. "Now, go to the dungeon and have Wheeljack tell you the location of his comrades - by any means necessary."

"My pleasure, master," Starscream replied and bowed. He was about to leave when Megatron continued:

"Also, if you run into Knock Out, tell him to meet me here. I have a little job for him."

"What kind of job?" the Seeker asked in curiosity.

"Unearthing the relics we lost on Cybertron. Or would you like to do that?"

Starscream shook his head. Torturing an Autobot was far more entertaining than digging in rubble, looking for some old objects - valuable objects of course, but it was still much more fun to torture someone. Megatron dismissed him, and the Seeker transformed and flew down to the Nemesis, which was parked by the docking section.

As he arrived inside the warship, heading for the dungeon where they kept Wheeljack, Knock Out conveniently walked out from the corner, accompanied by a Vehicon.

"...and then I told him- Oh, Commander Starscream." Knock Out and the Vehicon stopped as Starscream walked up to them.

"Knock Out, Lord Megatron has requested your presence in his throne room right now. You," he added to the Vehicon, "return to your post."

"Yes, Commander," the Vehicon said and left the two alone. Starscream was about to move on when Knock Out began talking to him, though without looking at him.

"How are you doing, sir?"

"Terrific. Now go attend to our master, he has a little job for you."

Knock Out didn't leave right away; instead, he continued talking for a while. "I still think it would be a good idea if you stayed within Darkmount and the Nemesis for the time being, given your...situation."

"I heard you the first time, thank you," Starscream hissed. "And I'll do what I want, unless His Lordship says otherwise."

Knock Out finally faced Starscream and had an unusually serious look on his face. "How much do you care about these protoforms?"

Starscream simply gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you really willing to charge outside and face the Autobots in battle, considering how close you are to...conceiving?"

"So what if I am?"

"No disrespect, commander, but if you get wounded out there, badly even, what you're carrying could perish. Even Lord Megatron knows better than that."

"Lord Megatron doesn't even care for his troops that much, let alone unborn protoforms. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not Lord Megatron."

"Exactly. If you want your offspring to survive and prosper, you need to be better than our mighty leader."

And without another word, Knock Out left Starscream speechless in the hallway to meet Megatron in the throne room. Despite what his pride told him, he had to admit Knock Out was right; it would be foolish to expose the protoforms inside him to such danger when being so close to conceiving them. He then thought about how much punishment he had taken during his time as a rogue and wondered if that alone had already damaged the protoforms so much that it didn't matter if he got crushed now or not. If that was the case, then all the time he had spent suffering would have been for nothing.

The next few hours were spent interrogating Wheeljack, using both physical and verbal punishment to get him to talk. He had tried punching him, scratching him and slicing his chest with a Scratchmaker, and much, much more, but even as Wheeljack finally lost consciousness from the torture, he had not told him anything. Starscream was not exactly thrilled to tell the bad news to Megatron as he returned to the throne room on Darkmount.

"What do you mean he doesn't know anything?" the warlord snarled impatiently at the Seeker.

"I've tried everything, my lord, but he hasn't given me any useful information. I'm beginning to assume he really doesn't know anything..."

"Save your assumptions for later. You clearly haven't tried hard enough. Wheeljack is a Wrecker, and Wreckers are known for their toughness. He will speak sooner or later, but not likely after a single day. For now, go join Soundwave in the command center on the warship, and send out the troops in case you come up with any transmissions. Continue Wheeljack's interrogation when he awakens."

It hurt a little bit to be talked down on like this, but Starscream was used to it. "As you wish, master," he simply said.

As he returned to the Nemesis, on the way to the command center he decided to stop by the storage room and get an energon cube. It had only been several hours since his last refuel, but the innate hunger his carrying caused him would show up every so often as between a few hours lately. While drinking, he wondered how many of the cubes he would consume before the sparklings would arrive. In general there were enough cubes in here to last three months, but given how quickly he grew hungry, the cubes might only last a few days...if Megatron would even let him drink that many, that is.

"Uh, what are you doing, commander?"

Starscream turned surprised around by the sudden voice. A lone Vehicon was standing at the doorframe to the storage, watching the Seeker guzzle the whole cube in him. Primus knows if this was the same Vehicon speaking with Knock Out earlier. They all looked and sounded the same, and even Megatron had a hard time distinguishing the Vehicons.

"None of your business," Starscream hissed. "I thought I told you to get back to your post? You may be called to crush an Autobot or squash a human - or both! Now get back to your post and await your orders!"

"Uh, yessir!" the Vehicon replied and rushed off.

Starscream sighed in relief and put the empty cube down. He didn't know why he had been so defensive towards the Vehicon. Probably because if Megatron got to know the Seeker was consuming his energon cubes in secret, he might perform a re-act of the episode in the energon mine five months ago. On his way to the command center, Starscream decided that if any transmissions were to be caught, he would send that particular Vehicon out to destroy them...or more likely, himself.

Several days passed without anything happening other than torturing Wheeljack to further attempt to get information from him, but in vain. After the last interrogation, Starscream had concluded that Wheeljack didn't have any useful information, but Megatron kept insisting he hadn't tried hard enough. Starscream was merely waiting for Megatron to grasp the truth and let him get rid of the Wrecker. It would be great to do it the old fashion way, but he realized Wheeljack would probably not be as easy to punch a hole in as Cliffjumper.

Now he was spending most of his time in the command center with Soundwave to watch for Autobot or human transmission, but they had come up with nothing so far. Then, several days later, the monitor suddenly showed a signal in one of the states, which turned out to belong to the human called Jack Darby. The human who Optimus Prime himself had chosen to guard the Matrix of Leadership while he suffered from amnesia. He was also the human who accompanied Arcee, the Autobot assassin who Starscream despised so much. Starscream turned on the comm. link to call Megatron while Soundwave transmitted the information to their leader.

"Master!"

"Send in the troops," Megatron ordered, having received the transmission. "And Soundwave, I want a live feed!"

As ordered, Soundwave deployed Laserbeak from his chest, and the small Mini-Con flew off to observe the situation.

"Troops, follow the signal and destroy the human," Starscream ordered through the comm. link. "And leave whatever scrap is left of Arcee to me!"

"Yes, Commander Starscream!"

Oh, it's good to be back on the team, Starscream thought delighted. They watched the monitor which displayed a parking lot and a gas station where a lot of shooting and firing was taking place, the Vehicons flying around like birds, but no signs of Arcee nearby. Laserbeak caught sight of the human boy called Jack and zoomed in. Just then, the door to the command center opened and Megatron entered, approaching the two slender mechs.

"Master," Starscream said and nodded at the monitor. "We have a visual."

From the monitor, they could see Laserbeak follow Jack as he hid himself underneath a truck trailer, but the Vehicons simply shot the trailer off him, which landed a good distance from him with a bang and a dust cloud. One of the troopers then returned to fire at Jack, but just then Arcee jumped in, grabbed the human and sheltered him while firing upon the troopers herself.

"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her human pet?" Megatron snarled impatiently.

"Well, in my experience-"

"Not a riddle, Starscream."

"Eh, sorry."

They continued watching the monitor, which showed Jack and Arcee hiding behind the gas station. The troopers switched to robot mode and inspected their hiding place. From Laserbeak's point of view, they noticed the boy had spilled a large amount of dark liquid substance from a hose, creating a large puddle underneath the station.

"Fool," Starscream said as the boy dropped the hose and ran in the opposite direction towards a car. "Shoot them now while you have the chance!"

"Wait," Megatron said and looked closer at the dark substance under the station, as the Vehicons prepared to fire. "Something's not right here..."

Before Starscream could ask, he saw what he meant: Arcee peeked from the car Jack sought cover behind and fired her own weapon, not at the Vehicons, but at the substance on the ground. The next nano-cycle, the whole place blew up and they lost contact with Laserbeak. Megatron gave an exclamation of anger.

"Call Laserbeak back immediately," he ordered Soundwave, who seemed to already wait for the bird's return.

When Laserbeak returned, he was burned and battered, but nonetheless whole. Soundwave drew forth his tentacles and initiated repairment on his Mini-Con.

"Well?" Megatron said, sounding partly impatient, partly concerned. "Did any of the surveillance data survive?"

Although Soundwave didn't normally speak, the Decepticons had learned to understand his silent replies, and this one seemed to mean "No".

"A shame," Starscream sighed. "We might have at least learned the direction in which Arcee and the human fled."

"Clearly we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots," Megatron said, "and build upon the tactical advantage that we've managed to secure."

"Lord Megatron," Knock Out's voice sounded from the comm., "I am ready to return to Darkmount. And I am certain you'll want to see what I've uncovered."

Eager for some good news, Megatron ordered: "Soundwave, open a space bridge portal."

Soundwave obeyed and interrupted his work on Laserbeak to open a green portal behind them, from which Knock Out stepped out. Megatron glanced at him with an impatient look on his face.

"I find myself an urge at need of good news. So please, Knock Out, tell me that you've found something useful."

Starscream looked over and under Megatron's shoulder to see what was behind Knock Out. For some reason, he was getting a bad feeling.

"Some things, my liege," Knock Out said and stepped aside. "And someone."

Starscream stiffened as he heard heavy footsteps and saw the large, dark purple mech stepping out from the portal, a mech who he thought had perished eons ago during the fall of Cybertron.

"He...lives?" the Seeker whispered in disbelief.

The red-eyed Cyclops with a fusion cannon as his left arm, the creator of the Vehicons and inventor of much Decepticon technology, slowly walked towards the group.

"Lord Megatron," the newcomer said with his deep, cold voice, bowing to the Decepticon leader.

"Shockwave! This is quite an unexpected turn," Megatron said with delighted surprise. His delight shifted quickly as he glanced at Starscream behind him. "I thought you'd perished on Cybertron."

Starscream winced at his words and glare. "Yes, yes, as did we all," he replied quickly.

"Reports of my demise were greatly…premature," Shockwave said. "A pair of Autobots infiltrated my facility on Cybertron, sabotaging my space bridge. I gave chase, but failed to accurately calculate the outcome. I awoke in the rubble, blinded. It soon became clear that I was marooned on our dead planet, with no means of communication. In time, I repaired my wounds and resumed my experiments. The solitude enabled me to make tremendous advances in my research. Until one day, my instruments detected a massive surge of unidentifiable energy. I travelled to investigate its origin, at the edge of the Sea of Rust, where I encountered your salvage team, and the smoldering wreckage of the Omega Lock. But this was not the search party I had anticipated so long ago. Leaving one, unanswered question…"

Shockwave's cold optic focused on Starscream. It gave him the chills – it felt as though the Cyclops was staring directly into his spark.

"Why was I left for scrap?" Shockwave asked with a dangerously calm voice, but Starscream knew he was mad. "Abandoned? Why?"

As Shockwave approached Starscream, the latter lowered his wings in fear, desperately trying to think of an explanation before the scientist blasted him to bits with his fusion cannon.

"The-the-the explosion, it-it collapsed the power core chamber," Starscream stuttered in fear while looking at his own reflection in Shockwave's optic. "The last thing anyone witnessed was you charging into the space bridge portal. No one saw you come back out!"

He held his breath, awaiting Shockwave's response, which seemed to take forever. Though his answer had been performed poorly and it was the first thing he could think of, he realized a second later that it was actually true – of course, there was no telling what Shockwave would think of all this. He's gonna get mad, Starscream thought anxiously. He's gonna kill me, I know it! He remembered when Dreadwing tried to kill him and Megatron had blasted a hole in his chest for it. What would the warlord do if Shockwave tried the same? Shockwave was a highly respected Decepticon, and one of Megatron's favorites, the most powerful and brilliant scientist on Cybertron. Surely Megatron would not make the same mistake with Shockwave as he had done with Dreadwing…

"I find your reply to be…" Shockwave said, snapping Starscream out of his thoughts. He held a long, tense pause before ending: "…logical."

Realizing he was safe, Starscream exhaled in relief, his wings still down. If there was one thing to know about Shockwave, it was that he didn't care about things like conquest, slaughter, Shanix, power, knowledge, weapons or even emotions. The only thing that mattered to him was logic, and anything that had connection to logic, he would follow. So you would only really be safe if he found your words, actions or presence logical. He was, however, fiercely loyal to Megatron, just like Soundwave.

Shockwave and Megatron were about to leave, when Starscream remembered the episode with Shockwave's space bridge.

"But you will be pleased to know that I avenged your seeming demise by personally terminating the Autobot Cliffjumper, hahah," he said and fluttered with his wings, attempting to get on Shockwave's good side. Nobody laughed along with him. Only Knock Out said something:

"Careful, Starscream, you may dislocate a landing gear, patting yourself on the back."

"As Megatron's First Lieutenant," Starscream said and ignored Knock Out's comment, "allow me to welcome you back to the winning team."

"And allow me to clarify the new chain of command," Megatron said as they were at the door. "While Starscream will retain authority over military operations, Shockwave will be my First Lieutenant in all scientific endeavors."

This took Starscream by surprise, as he lowered his wings again and said: "So, you are saying…we shall each…report…directly…to you?" It had to be some kind of cosmic joke, Megatron couldn't really be serious about having two seconds-in-command, right?

"Affirmative," the warlord simply answered and went out in the hallway, followed by Shockwave, Knock Out and Soundwave. Starscream didn't follow them right away – he was filled with rage and contempt, hitting his fist against his leg repeatedly in an attempt to keep his cool.

"Completely. Logical. My Liege," he hissed to himself and let his wings reset to pointing upwards again.

He suddenly felt a cramp in his chest and held his arms around it. It was very painful, but quickly subsided. He had had extremely many cramps occasionally these last few days. It couldn't be long now. Knock Out had said the protoforms would come in less than a week – three days ago. He already had enough trouble trying to keep a low profile around Megatron and Soundwave, but now Shockwave was here too, and he had this creepy sense of logic and for solving mysteries. If he were to notice Starscream's odd symptoms, he would immediately know what was going on, and he would most certainly tell Megatron. Then it would be the end of hoping for the sparklings' future.

Later – after he had snatched an energon cube from the storage room and quickly consumed it to ease the pain (he had found out that the cramps usually appeared when he was hungry) – Starscream joined the others in the surveillance room. He was attending a monitor in one end of the room while the others were talking in the other end. The Seeker glared at them, still filled with contempt.

"Grrr, Shockwave's toting is so transparent," he snarled to himself and returned to the monitor. "Megatron's respect is earned by deeds, not words."

He scrolled through a bunch of pictures on the conspiracy website, hoping to find anything related to the Autobot fugitives, but everything was:

"Useless, useless, useless! Billions of cameras in the hands of those miserable humans. One of them is bound to catch an Autobot eventually. Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Among all the useless photos, he had found a blurry, static, dark, but nonetheless legit photo of the Autobot medic Ratchet, running through a bundle of Earth cars. Finally, a sign of the Autobots!

"Lord Megatron," he called and turned, catching the others' attention. "I have found something of great interest!"

They all looked at him in attentive silence. "Yes?" Megatron said impatiently.

"An Autobot," Starscream said and stepped aside to show the picture of Ratchet, in a theatrical way, to show Shockwave up. But if not the baffled expressions and Knock Out's laughing, then the strange yet familiar screechy sound made Starscream look back at the monitor. Ratchet was gone! Worse yet, the monitor was showing the same monkey GIF he had recently watched in the Harbinger, and it was dancing and shrieking in the silly way it always did.

"Wait? What?! It was just here! Surely one of you saw it?" Starscream felt his face burning with embarrassment. Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Starscream…" Megatron said slowly, just as perplexed as everyone else. "You would do well to take a cue from Soundwave on occasion…and keep things to yourself."

Starscream returned to the screen, still hot with embarrassment. "Vow of silence. Such a cop-out." As he turned off the GIF, Shockwave began talking.

"Lord Megatron. Surely our Autobot prisoner is a better source of information than this primitive data-net."

"I will have you know, Shockwave, that I have been grinding Wheeljack down for days," Starscream said. "If he knew anything, he would have spilled it by now."

"Again, some prove to be better at holding their tongues than others," Megatron replied coldly.

"Perhaps you would have better results if instead of a club, you used a scalpel," Shockwave said. "I recommend a cortical psychic patch."

"Good idea, Shockwave. See to it done."

Later though, it turned out Wheeljack really didn't know anything, even after the use of the cortical psychic patch, much to Shockwave and Megatron's disappointment and Starscream's epicaricacy. He was delighted that even Shockwave couldn't do anything about the problem, thus leaving the two in stalemate for Megatron's favor.

As Wheeljack was no longer of use to them, Starscream got the job of exterminating the Wrecker. He and four Vehicon fliers went to his cell to get him. Before they took him though, Starscream opened the Autobot's hood and placed a tracking device inside. He hadn't revealed to anyone aboard the ship that he had them yet, because he had been saving them for the right moment, and this was it.

Afterwards he sent the troops off with Wheeljack to the smelting pool in Darkmount. On the way back to the throne room, he felt another very painful cramp tormenting his insides. As it subsided a few cycles later, he suddenly felt hungrier than ever. This was the first time he had felt the hunger immediately after a cramp. This time also felt slightly different than usual; instead of the feeling of being kicked on the inside, it was like his organs were shrinking in size, and then suddenly popping back to their original size, then starting over again. This was much worse than the banging against his chest.

"Ugh, calm down, I'll get energon now…" he hissed to his chest as another similar cramp arrived. He was so filled with pain that he limped rather than walked to the storage room, grabbed a large energon cube and scooped down the entire content within nano-cycles while sitting down. It was better but not enough. The cramp and hunger was still present, albeit slightly decreased. He needed another cube. He grabbed another large one next to him and guzzled the content within ten nano-cycles. That did it. He wiped his mouth clean and felt as the cramps and hunger finally settled.

"That was close," he mumbled in relief and stood up. "I need to find a secluded area soon so I can be rid of these pests! Primus, please give me enough time…"

When he arrived in the throne room, he learned that Wheeljack had escaped. He had used the Vehicons to fly down the tower on, then blasted all four of them and escaped. They could still see the fire from the explosion at the foot of the tower. Megatron did not look pleased when Starscream transformed and landed in front of him and Shockwave.

"This is how you handle things?" Megatron snarled.

"Wheeljack is not the first prisoner to escape Starscream's care," Shockwave said, referencing the time on Cybertron with Arcee and Cliffjumper, but what also came to Starscream's mind was Agent Fowler, along with another time with Wheeljack. Okay, sure, you made your point, Starscream thought irritated.

"Actually, Master, I allowed Wheeljack to escape," Starscream said theatrically. He could have explained his action further right away, but he paused for a bit to see Megatron's reaction.

"You what?!" Megatron yelled and rose up in a swift moment. Just what he had expected. This prompted Starscream to quickly explain:

"But the Autobot's every move, his every word, will be monitored."

Megatron raised an eyebrow, his expression saying 'I'm listening'. Starscream pulled forth one of the tracking devices he had snatched from the Harbinger.

"Thanks to a simple tracking device implanted while the prisoner was still unconscious…" He gave Shockwave a spiteful smile. "…following the failed cortical psychic patch. Now, all we have to do is wait, watch and listen. When the Wrecker reunites with the other Autobots, my armada will strike!"

Megatron's doubtful frown turned into a maliciously satisfied smile. Starscream felt a strange sense of joy simply receiving this look from his master as a reward. He thought Starscream was doing a better job than Shockwave!

Take that, Shockwave, he thought and glanced at the scientist. It was impossible to tell his mood by his expression, as he only had one optic and no face. He was just as expressionless as Soundwave, though at least he talked. Soundwave was a silent mystery. According to rumors, he was able to talk, but apparently decided not to. Like Starscream had pointed out before, Soundwave's deeds spoke larger than his words, so he must have decided to forget about talking and simply act.

They went to the surveillance room and watched the monitor, which was showing Wheeljack's movements. They could hear a motor humming, so he was probably driving on a road. After a while, a chi-cha-ko-cha-chi-sound was heard, indicating he had transformed. Immediately after, they heard a voice which could only belong to the Wrecker Bulkhead.

"Hahah, Jackie! Where you been, buddy?"

"Cussing up with a few ol'…dance partners," Wheeljack's strained voice sounded, almost as if he was being squeezed. Afterwards, his voice sounded normal again. "Good to see you, kid. Safe to assume we're the only three Wreckers around?"

Three Wreckers? Starscream thought surprised as they were listening to the conversation. Has another Autobot arrived? Another new recruit, perhaps? There was a third voice, but it was so faint that they couldn't hear what was being said. Perhaps that voice belonged to the new Wrecker.

"What's our next move, Jackie? Circle back to base?" Bulkhead said.

"There is no base. 'Cons blasted it to dust."

"The dimwit played right into my hands," Starscream chuckled and turned on the comm. link. "All Seekers to the flight deck! We have pinpointed the enemy!"

Five Decepticon signals appeared on the monitor, moving towards the signal Wheeljack was giving off thanks to the tracking device. In a few moments, the Wreckers would become wrecked themselves.

"Attack, my armada!" he ordered with excitement. They watched as the signals stopped by the river, the Autobot signal getting closer to them.

"We're at the coordinates, Commander Starscream," one of the Seekers said through the comm.

"Hold fast," he said. "They're approaching your position."

They watched and waited for the blast to take out the Autobots, but there was no sign of fighting. Instead, a strange sound was coming from the audio on the tracking device. It sounded like flowing water and a beeping sound…

Could it be…did he…no, of course he didn't, Starscream thought, tossing the suspicion aside. "Get ready for the blast."

A few more nano-cycles passed, then all of a sudden they heard both through the comm. and the tracking device audio one of the Seekers yelling: "GRENADE!"

A loud blast sounded through both audio systems, piercing through the Decepticons' audio receptors. The signal from the tracking device disappeared from the screen, along with the five signals from Starscream's Seekers. Even the monitor went blurry, as if the explosion had interfered with the Nemesis itself.

"He…he tricked us…" Starscream said in disappointed surprise and glanced at Megatron right behind him. The warlord's former pleased expression was now more than displeased and disappointed. It was like receiving an energon cube, only to accidentally blast it to explode.

"So not only did you fail to destroy the Autobots…" Megatron said slowly while approaching the Seeker, with every bit of anger carved into his words. "…but you allowed their number to increase! IS THERE NO ONE WHO CAN BRING ME THEIR HEADS?!"

"If I may, Lord Megatron," Shockwave said, without the tiniest bit of concern in his voice. "During my exile on Cybertron, I resumed work on a long-dormant project." He walked over to the monitor, and Starscream quickly got out of his way to avoid any conflict. "One that I believe may provide a solution to our current problem." He pressed a button, and on the big screen appeared a diagram of CNA.

"Cybernucleic acid?" Knock Out asked in confusion.

"The building-blocks of all Cybertronian life," Shockwave explained. "This hails from a specimen I excavated upon our planet, and has yielded promising results."

While this all sounded nice and everything, Starscream knew creating new life took a long time and resources, whether creating a clone from Vehicon protoforms, hatching normal protoforms from eggs or carrying six normal protoforms in one's chest. Shockwave didn't possibly think they had enough time to create a creature to help them with the Autobots?

"The Autobots continue to evade us," the Seeker said. "What makes you think we can afford to wait for the answer to our prayers to be…birthed in some petri dish?"

"You misunderstand. The subject has been fully cultivated. It need only be transported from my laboratory on Cybertron."

Starscream couldn't hold back a surprised, yet silent gasp. Shockwave had been playing Primus on Cybertron all this time? After the rest of them had left for Earth and later, when they had returned to restore the Omega Lock? What could he possibly have been making which would take so long, yet is now fully ready and set for action?

"Then by all means," Megatron said, "activate the space bridge."

Almost two megacycles had passed since Shockwave left for Cybertron. They had all gathered in the throne room and were waiting for his return. Megatron sat on his throne and impatiently tapped the armrest with his claw. Soundwave stood by himself at the foot of the throne, and the Vehicons were scattered around the platform. Starscream stood next to Knock Out a little away from the others. He leaned towards the doctor.

"What do you think Shockwave is bringing back?" he asked quietly.

"Hopefully something more useful than you brought back," Knock Out replied. "To be honest, I don't see how tracking devices and sparklings are going to help us against the Autobots. I mean, the tracking device was a good idea to begin with, but then Wheeljack showed us it just won't work. The sparklings, though…"

"Keep it down," Starscream hissed. "He might hear you!"

"Who, Megs or Soundy?" the doctor said teasingly. "By the way, I've noticed that since Shockwave arrived, you've been even more determined to—hey, what's the matter?"

Starscream held his servo on his chest as another really painful cramp arrived in his chest. It was just as painful as the ones earlier, but because Megatron was present, he couldn't afford to show too much weakness – he might get suspicious.

"I'm fine," he hissed as the pain slowly subsided. "But these cramps have been getting more and more frequent. And they—"

They silenced as a space bridge portal opened in front of them, with Shockwave stepping out. Starscream took a few steps forward, curious as to what the Cyclops had brought home, but tried not to look too curious.

"I present to you, my liege," Shockwave said and held his servo at the portal, "the ultimate Autobot hunter."

From the portal stepped out a huge beast with claws, spikes and sharp teeth everywhere, a pair of red wings, a long, spiky tail, horns priding its head and glistering yellow optics, walking on four robust legs. Starscream took many steps back and held his arms in front of his face and chest. He had seen one of those creatures only in pictures and on engravings. An unholy beast that had ruled Cybertron before Autobots and Decepticons, heck, Cybertronians in general even existed! And this specimen in particular was one of the most dangerous of its kind.

"A…Predacon…"