AUTHOR: Am really sorry for how long it took me to write this. Had a bit of a Writer's Block and I also discovered something remarkable! Stories dont write themselves! Wow, I never would have imagined! Anyway, better late then never, I guess. I only hope I didn't update for too long.

Special thanks to Seiberwing for beeing my beta-reader. She sure isin't shy in sharing her opinions!

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Chapter 3: Ready Or Not...

Megatron was in a lousy mood.

But it was not because of how long it had taken them to finally find some Energon, or having to listen to Cyclonus' whining about how bad it was having the human around, or only now finding out that the energy generators that were designed specifically to contain processed Energon had NOT been installed yet, despite Megatron ordering Scorponok to do so before they left Unicron.

No, it was because as he stood overlooking the launch bay that contained the 6 cargo ships, he was reminded of what state his once-grand army had been reduced to. The cargo ships, created by Unicron, looked similar to the troop transports that carried squadrons of soldier into the heat of battle. Just looking at them brought back memories of the 'good old days.'

Ah, I still remember a time when the Decepticon Empire was at its greatest. We spread ourselves throughout the galaxy as our numbers poured out of the factories. I can still remember the heat of battle as we conquered Autobot planets, the thrill of watching their puny starships fall before ours, the satisfaction of seeing yet another Autobot sector on Cybertron fall.

And now look at us.

Barely a handful of us are left, while the rest are either rusting in prison or have betrayed me by bowing before the Autobots. Bowing before Prime

Snarling, Megatron kicked an unfortunate Terrorcon that was passing by. It crashed into the wall and unsteadily got back to its feet before running away. away, making pitiful whining noises.

Megatron didn't even notice. His optics flared up as his anger increased.

Prime.

How I loathe that name.

But you haven't beaten me, oh no, Prime. Far from it. Through Unicron, I shall re-build my army back to its former glory! With you and your precious Autobots removed, nothing will stop us to claim the entire universe as ours!

It will be a great pleasure to watch your smoldering remains as I-

Clang!

Megatron got pulled back to the real world by the sounds of something loud landing on the launch bay, followed by an angry shout.

"You idiot! You could have blown us both up with your clumsiness!" screamed Cyclonus, shaking his fists at Demolisher.

"Hey! It's not my fault! You think it's easy walking backwards carrying that thing?" shouted Demolisher, looking quite furious. It was impossible to hear exactly what they were saying as they began arguing loudly, but you could get the impression of the words.

Lying forgotten next to them on the floor was one of the energy generators. Designed to hold and protect processed Energon crystals, its only weakness was that it was very fragile outside a ship and could very easily become unstable and explode. Megatron could only sigh as he ran a hand over his face.

I am surrounded by idiots who are supported by morons.

"Just what is going on in here?" he bellowed, his thundering voice nearly making everything vibrate. The pair nearly jumped into each other's arms out of sheer fright and surprise, quickly looking around and seeing Megatron standing on the catwalk.

"M-Megatron, sir! We ah, well you see ah…." stuttered Demolisher, slipping on his own words. Cyclonus took the initiative.

"Ah, Megatron, sir, we ah, ha-had a little accident here, bu-but it's nothing, really. We're fine, e-everything is fine here. Uh, h-how are you? Sir?"

From where Cyclonus and Demolisher were standing, they could only see the outlines of Megatron's form in the shadows above. However, they could clearly see his optics become brighter, making them both cringe and take a tiny step backwards.

"You will resume installing those generators, if you value your Sparks." Spoke a very deadly calm Megatron, which was even more dangerous and twice as deadly then an angry one, something that both Demolisher and Cyclonus were more then aware of.

"Sir! Yes sir!" they both shouted and saluted, then immediately jumped at the generator and continued carrying it towards the nearest cargo ship.

Megatron's eyes trailed from his 'soldiers' towards the launch bay doors, where the planet with the Energon was in plain view.

….

"So, this is Energon." Spike said to no one particular. He was standing outside his Mech, holding an Energon crystal that was the size of a football. Several Terrorcons were gathered around him, some simply sitting on the ground waiting, while others ran around, looking for more Energon to eat and process.

Their location on the planet was in the mountains. Just a couple of feet away from Spike was a large cave where the most concentrated Energon had been located. Nearly all of the Terrorcons were full, but the cargo ship had yet to arrive to take them back to the Fortress. A Terrorcon walked up to Spike and made a hissing, snarling sound. Spike looked from the crystal to the Terrorcon, his human eyebrow slightly raised. Something that resembled a bark came from the Terrorcon, and Spike looked again at the crystal, then back at the Terrorcon. He lowered his hand and the Terrorcon jumped, snatched the crystal and immediately started eating it.

While Spike watched it with mixed curiosity, the radio inside his helmet crackled to life and Starscream's voice was heard.

"Spike, get ready. The first cargo ship is on its way."

"Yes sir." Turning his back to the Terrorcon, Spike made his way to his Mech. Standing before it, Spike jumped several feet up to the Mech's knee section, grabbed a small handle, then jumped up next to the cockpit. Grabbing another handle, he swung himself into the open cockpit and pressed a button. The hatch started closing as he braced himself for the needles to enter their places.

Less then twenty seconds later, the Mech was ready for action.

"Am ready and standing by, sir," said Spike.

"I'm above you, Spike. Come and join me," said Starscream. Spike looked up and saw Starscream's figure high above him. Engaging the thrusters on his Mech's back, Spike flew up and landed next to Starscream, who was looking up in the sky and watching for something. Following his line of sight, Spike saw a tiny spark in the sky, no doubt the cargo ship entering orbit.

"Tell me something, Spike," said Starscream without looking at him. He did not use a commanding voice, but rather spoke as if he simply wanted to ask something.

"Sir?"

"I may not know much about what humans are capable of, but I know enough to know that these jumps you took to reach your mech are next to impossible for human standards. Is it your suit that gives you the boost?"

Spike remained silent for a couple seconds before answering.

"No, sir. What little data that was stored in my Mech contained a bit of information regarding my suit. Instead of boosting my strength or speed, it instead protects my body from blows, somehow absorbing it. It is my own legs that enable me to jump so high, as they seem to have been…modified." Starscream turned his gaze away from the incoming cargo ship and looked at Spike.

"You mean your legs are like your arm?"

Again, Spike remained silent for some seconds before answering The Mech's head went down slightly.

"No…no sir, my legs are not pure metal. After conducting a scan of my body, I saw that several parts of my legs have several cybernetic implants, which I believe is what is giving me added boost. I also noticed several old fractures in my leg bones, so I assume the implants were placed there so I would not lose my legs."

"I see." Starscream commented with a neutral face, before looking back up in the sky. A low thunder was slowly growing as the cargo ship got closer and closer.

Meanwhile, deep in space on the other side of the planet…

"…and then I said, that's not the oil barrel!"

This was followed by a snicker, but the rest did not join in.

"That little joke of yours stopped being funny a looong time ago, Red 3," one of the other jets said.

"Aww, come on Red, it wasn't that bad!"

"It was, and it's Red 1 as well you know!" snapped Red 1, with a slight greater authority and maturity then Red 3.

"Jeez, relax Red One. And since we are on that subject, just how long are we gonna call ourselves Red something and Blue something?"

"Until I say your training is complete. You got a problem with that, cadet?" asked Jetfire, who had flown right next to Red 3 without the other jet even noticing. For a moment Red 3 looked like he had forgotten how to fly, but he quickly recovered.

"S-sir no sir!"

"Well, good to hear. Mind getting back into formation, then?"

"Sir yes sir! Uh, I-I mean no sir! Ah, I mean, I uh, ah…" Jetfire knew laughing wouldn't help bolstering the rookie's confidence, but he just couldn't help himself.

"Just relax Red 3 and fly back in formation. We're reaching our destination anyway," added Jetfire, after looking around quickly and finally choosing a planet for they're next exercise in gravity flying and combat.

"Yes sir." mumbled an embarrassed Red 3 and tried to ignore the snickers coming from the Blue team.

….

Megatron marched up to the sensor controls while warning sounds sounded all over the ship, telling him that the ship's sensors had detected enemy energy signatures. Megatron brought up a 3-D map, revealing the planet they were in orbit with and several red dots closing in on the other side of the planet.

Megatron frowned angrily. "Damn it all!"

Resisting the urge to smash the controls, Megatron opened a commlink to Demolisher.

"Demolisher! Come in, Demolisher!"

"M-Megatron, sir! We just finished installing the second generator and are about to-"

"No! Do not launch the second ship! And don't send any long range communications either!" A second or two passed before Demolisher responded.

"Uh, sir? But I thought you told us to-"

"It isn't your job to think, soldier! Do as your told!" snapped Megatron before he cut the link. As he eyed the red dots coming closer and closer to the planet, Megatron opened an encrypted communication link to Starscream.

"Starscream? Come in Starscream!"

"Starscream!"

"Megatron, sir. The Terrorcons have just finished loading the Energon and-"

"No! Don't send the cargo ship up!"

Starscream and Spike exchanged looks before Starscream looked up into the sky and responded, "Sir?"

"Enemy units are approaching the planet. Until we know what they want, you are to remain undetected. And don't open any commlinks until I say so." With that, Megatron terminated the link.

Again Starscream and Spike shared a look, but this one was different. Without a word, both of them literally jumped into action. Both hid behind the nearby rock formations, giving them a perfect view over the mountains and, even better, a place for a sneak attack should it come to that. Below them in the canyon was the cargo ship, fully loaded but still waiting to be told to return to the Fortress. The Terrorcons were in the cave, looking for more Energon. All they could do now was wait.

What a nice looking place, Jetfire thought to himself as he and his cadets flew over the vast landscape. There were mountains to the north and east, an ocean to the west and a vast area of desert and canyons lay in the southern region.

In other words, a great place for some training. Too bad I won't be able to join in.

Jetfire started to land and the rest followed. When he was close enough, Jetfire transformed, grabbed the package that had been in his cockpit and landed on a large hill that gave a good view over the surrounding area. Jetfire admired the view while the word 'Transform!' was shouted six times behind him. Turning around, Jetfire couldn't help but feel proud of his cadets. They all had the same basic body type, with subtle differences in shape and color. Three of them had red wings while the other three had blue wings. The colors would be removed once they graduated.

"All right, listen up! Today's training will be dog-fighting inside a planet's gravity. I want both teams to split up, wait five minutes and then start fighting. As much as I would like to join in, I'm afraid I can't."

With that, Jetfire placed the package he had been carrying on the ground, while a confused Red 1 asked, "Sir? You will not be observing us?"

" 'Fraid not." Jetfire said while opening the package, revealing a rather odd looking device.

"Then…how will you be able to see our flying?"

"Through this. Been a while since I last used this special scanner, mostly since I prefer seeing things through my own optics. With luck, I wont have to use this again." Jetfire pressed a button and the device started slowly spinning, as beeping sounds emitted from it.

"Uh, sir? What is it doing?"

"It's scanning the surrounding areas. It's a bit of a like a recorder. It will record what is happening around it. It's range is pretty far, in fact this entire section of this planet is now beeping recorded so when I get back I'll be able to see what you guys have been up to and if you've been doing what I told you to do." The device stopped beeping but kept spinning as it recorded.

"But where are you going, sir?" Since they were still cadets they didn't exactly have the highest security level, but Jetfire wasn't one of those Autobots officers who read the rulebook fifty times before recharging and then fifty again more just to be safe.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that despite our Intelligence Agency's best efforts, the rumors regarding this particular system have been floating around for the past days. Am I right?"

The Autobots' Intelligence Agency might have done many things during the war. It worked at infiltrating enemy ranks, breaking codes, finding the enemy's next target and tactics and was also so exceptionally good at keeping things on 'Need-to-know' basis that it had made Jetfire's systems create a spark or two in total frustration on many occasions for being kept in the dark.

But no matter how good it was, controlling rumors was beyond its reach.

"Ah, well sir, we did hear just before leaving Cybertron that Autobot scouts had found….something."

Despite Red 1's ambition of someday being a Wing Commander, his skills were put to their limits by trying to stand at attention and keep a steady voice, while the rest of Red and Blue team either looked at the sky in case of a Decepticon surprise attack or found something more interesting on the ground.

"Oh, they found something, all right. Didn't have time to read the full report but from the looks of things there was some kind of a base inside a large asteroid. And it didn't look like it was of Decepticon origin, either."

That caught their attention.

"Not Decepticon?"

"Sir, what do you-"

"Another side maybe? I wonder what they look-"

"Maybe a new enemy? Slag, if we weren't suffering enough-"

"Hey! Cut the chatter and stand at attention!" yelled a slightly put off Jetfire.

"Sir! Sorry, sir!" shouted all six cadets, immediately standing at attention. Some even saluted.

Okay, maybe, just maybe I've been slightly too lax with them about authority…

"Ah, look. I'll be away for a while to see how the salvage is going in that asteroid field. Not sure what has been found but my curiosity has been piqued, so...I'll trust that you guys will follow my instructions. And this planet better not be in smoldering ruins when I get back!"

Just like that, the Air Commander transformed into jet mode and flew off, leaving his cadets to watched the jet move further and further away.

"….sooo….what did he tell us to do again?"

As Megatron watched the 3-D map of the planet, he did not know whether it was out of sheer luck or something else that made the retreating Autobot fly in almost the same direction he came in, preventing him from spotting the Fortress. However, the remaining six Autobots stayed behind in a tight group. They certainly didn't act like a strike force or a search team for Energon.

Unless…

"Oh, you just have to be joking! Of all the…gah!" cursed a rather furious Megatron. His thoughts were confirmed when the Fortress' scanners picked up a small signal coming from the enemy group. It was a special Autobot scanner that was primarily used as either to observe a certain part of a planet or a sector in space, or for trainers to observe their cadets.

Megatron voted for the latter. And it didn't improve his mood one bit.

"Curse them all! I'll unleash my wrath upon them and-" Amidst his anger and fury, a tiny thought sparked in his memory banks. It was the rare kind of a spark that made Megatron stop whatever he was doing, whether it was forming a battle plan or when he was in his own sea of rage.

The spark made him remember something. Or, to be more precise, someone.

Megatron slowly lowered his arms that just been shaking in fury. His head bowed just a little as he remained in his own silence. He looked like he was brooding, but someone like Cyclonus or Demolisher or anyone that knew Megatron would have seen that the Decepticon General was in deep thought. The type of thought that spelled quick doom for anyone that would interrupt him.

Finally, he raised his head again, his face calm but serious.

"Hmm….yes, I believe it is time for our newest member to show just how much he is…willing to fight."

"Starscream."

"Yes sir?"

"It would appear our planet has just been selected as an Autobot training ground. I want you and Spike to make sure that they will not discover what we're doing here. Eliminate them all."

"As you wish, Lord Megatron." Starscream said.

"And Starscream?"

"Yes?"

"Should he show any hesitation what so ever… kill him."

With his optics on Spike, who was still looking out for the enemy, Starscream's reply was as short as it was truthful.

"Yes sir."