Chernobyl. Silence so loud it's deafening, ear splitting... maddening. Nature begins its campaign to reclaim this land, trees and grass overgrowing and wrapping around buildings, choking the brickwork and suffocating the constricted towers, a battle between urban land and nature being fought so slowly it's unnoticeable.

Thick dark clouds cover the sky and give Chernobyl its grim hue. In the distance above the tall reactor power plant where the blast happened, making this place uninhabitable hovered the massive Nemesis, the dark colored continent of metal looming ominously overhead.

The occasional break in silence was rattled when a massive rumble echoed and Blackout roared overhead, looking for his prey.

"Where are you bug?! I'll kill you for what you did to my brother!" He roared, echoing over Chernobyl.

On the outskirts near the red forest were Arcee and Jack. The portal closed behind them. She had something in her hand, a device he remembered seeing from their mission when Airachnid attacked. She was fiddling with it, customizing it.

"Cee what are you doing?" He asked quietly.

"You have your tools? I have mine" She quoted from that mission.

"And...There! Got it" she said as the device began clicking.

"What did you do?" He asked. She pointed it at the Autobot logo on her left wing and it beeped, flashing blue.

"I have updated this device to scan for radiation instead of Energon. It'll click quicker when we get near it"

"What did you do to your logo?" He inquired.

"Remember when Optimus and I went into the Arctic?"

"Yeah. I've never been so afraid in my life. When ratchet said if he didn't repair the Bridge you'd die...it was horrible" Jack sighed. She lifted his armor coated chin with her finger, smiling at him.

"Well, we had these fitted. If it got to cold it would warn us by flashing blue"

"So it'll flash when you get near radiation, right?"

"Look at my smart junior partner" She smiled looking at his chest Autobot logo.

"And I'll make sure your one does it too" She pointed the device at his Autobot logo on his armor. The chest logo beeped and flashed blue.

"Thanks Cee" He grinned to her.

"No problem"

Jack looked forward to find the source of several voices. He looked out over untamed fields and trees to the distant town and Nemesis.

"Now...how to get by these guys. Look... Vehicons" Jack said as three armed scouts walked around the ruin of an old house, paint peeling form its abandoned corpse. Arcee's eyes peered through the grass like a lion.

"Okay...how to get by. We need to use stealth; otherwise they could move the Nemesis again" Arcee stated.

"Exactly. Erm...well what if I dart around that house. Make a noise and distract them. Then you quietly take them down" Jack said through the helmet. She shook her head.

"No, too many, once I took one down, they'd warn the ship. We'd lose our element of surprise...and the Nemesis"

"Okay. Well do we bide our time? Wait till they move on, or split?" Jack whispered. Three Vehicons stood together, talking amongst themselves by the house ruin.

"Wait for my go. Then we dart to the church over there. See?" She pointed to a distant church, hidden in shrubbery and trees. Jack just about saw the bell tower in the tree line.

"Yeah, I see it"

The three Vehicons stood together and began to walk around the house, mere feet from Arcee and Jack in the grass.

"This is when I despise being blue" Arcee whispered to herself. The Vehicons walked past and began investigating another abandoned house behind them. Arcee leaned over to Jack.

"Okay Jack, get ready to run...go!" She whispered, climbing to her feet and sprinting, light on her feet. Jack's armor allowed him to move faster, keeping up with Arcee. They cleared the shrubs just as the Vehicons began to walk back, missing them by inches. Arcee slid behind the church and so did Jack, Arcee pulling him over out of sight.

They regained their breath. The cold air causing condensation to form on Jacks visor. He rubbed it clean with his gloved hand.

Suddenly a flurry of Decepticon voices echoed and another patrol of purple Vehicons came walking up an overgrown road, the gravel parting as thick green grass hairs split through. If Arcee and Jack didn't move soon, they'd be caught.

"Arcee quickly, I'll get the church door and you crouch inside" He whispered, moving over to the door.

He looked over to see the three Vehicons from before moving up to meet the other patrol. Jack slammed his fist on the rusty lock bursting it, and slowly pushed the door open. Arcee quickly ducked inside and Jack followed, shutting the door quietly as the Vehicons neared.

They kept low to the overgrown wooden floorboards and dead still to avoid creaking, when the Vehicon shadows parted the light and cast on the opposite wall in the church. Jack lay dead still, calming his breathing. They could hear them outside talking.

"Team five; you see any sign of the Autobot and her pet?"

"No. They're not here. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna get in Blackout's way. That is one crazy bot bounty hunter"

"Ah the stories I've heard of him. It would make Devastator cry. Come on, Starscream wants us to report back to the Nemesis"

Suddenly a loud bundle of transformations sounded outside and engines revved as the Vehicons raced off up the road. Soon silence retook the land and Arcee and Jack carefully clambered to their feet, the wooden floor screaming and creaking.

"Okay Jack, carefully does it" She said, looking up as clouds of dust solidified the beams of penetrating light. Crows fluttered and cawed as they flew through the holes in the ceilings. Everything was left untouched from the terrifying night of the evacuation.

"Look at this Cee. All left as they had to get up and go. Horrible" Jack sighed. She was busy though, looking up a creaking ladder to the bell tower.

"Jack, climb up there carefully and see what's out there. Use the zoom on your visor"

The bottom half of the ladder had rotted away. She knelt down and put her palms together, allowing his foot on. She pushed him up and onto the ladder. Jack began climbing, the creaking and groaning of it making him uncomfortable. She had her palms stretched out in case he fell.

Jack clambered to the top. The rusty, dust lathered bell swinging gently in the cold Ukraine breeze. He looked out over the valley of overgrown trees and unattended fields. In the distance were the tall skeletons of rusty pylons and the huge reactor under the Nemesis.

"What can you see?" She asked up the ladder.

"Err. A field. A long one. We can cross it on foot, get to the town outskirts quicker, but it may be radioactive" He said to her.

"We got our counters; just avoid the places with the most clicking if possible"

"Yep. We'll leave through the graveyard. I'm coming down" He said, stepping onto the ladder and carefully balancing his foot on each step.

"Go steady Jack" She ordered, keeping her eyes on him. He slid down it gently and landed on the floor with a thud that echoed like an explosion.

"That was loud" his head shrinking down into his shoulders.

"Come on Kiddo" She sighed, shaking her head and walking over to the church back door, crouched slightly. She rested a palm against the damp old wood and slowly pushed it ajar. The door hinges screamed in pain as it opened to the outside world. Overgrown graves littered the ground and two large stone walls surrounded it, with a rusty gate shut at the back leading to the field. She stepped outside, her eyes scanning every inch. Jack stayed close to her. He soon got ahead of her as she stopped in her tracks, hearing something.

Suddenly a loud rattling of helicopter blades grew louder and louder. She grabbed Jack's arm and threw him into the shadows of the stone wall. Arcee dived back into the church and shut the door. She spoke on the communicator.

"Jack whatever you do, stay down. I mean it" She ordered firmly. He obliged. The only reason she wasn't there with him, was her color scheme and size. She'd have been spotted, and Jack was too far out of the building to race back with her.

The huge Sikorsky Pave low roared over the Church. Trees fluttered and waved in the downdraft. It suddenly pointed upwards, beginning a back flip that would sheer a normal helicopter in half. The transformation sound echoed and the helicopter morphed into a humanoid shape.

The huge being slammed down into a crouched position, thumping the ground. Jack could feel it race along the floor and across his chest. The massive Decepticon stood up tall, the rotors stopping and folding onto his back.

Blackout looked around, his massive three fingered hand grasping the stone wall, just inches from Jack who was hidden in shrubs and shadows.

"Where are you Arcee? Make your cowardly self known! I'll make it quick and painless...maybe" He evilly taunted. Blackout walked around the field next to the Church, looking around the area, scanning tree lines and ruins.

"Arcee, I'm a professional Bounty Hunter. You remember Kup don't you? Well I killed him! For three thousand Cybertronian credits! Bargain if you ask me, because He was tough. Pleaded in the end though" He was trying to anger her and entice her out.

"Come on Cee, stay strong" Jack pleaded to himself silently, watching the Church door, praying to not see it burst open and watch her come flying out, guns blazing.

"Heard you lost Cliffjumper. Shame really. He should have known better given your history with partners. Tailgate, primus you aren't lucky in that department are you?" He mercilessly taunted.

Jack kept staring at the door.

"Please hold it together Cee"

Blackout walked around, his huge feet printing in the grassy mud.

"Well if you won't talk to me. Maybe my little friend will...coax you out" He chuckled. His back opened, the rotors parted and a giant mechanical scorpion leaped out, disappearing into the ground, tunneling along the outskirts to find them. Dirt and dust bellowed upwards as the beast dug away.

"You can't hide forever. Scorponok will find you!" He snarled, leaping into the air and transforming into the helicopter. The rotors restarted with a whir and the downdraft rattled trees and blew over fences as he climbed higher into the sky, flying off to the town outskirts.

Silence restored and Jack clambered to his feet, running to the Church. He pulled at the door, and rushed inside. Jack saw an emotional Arcee on the floor, staring at her blaster.

"Cee?"

"I was so close...to opening that door and firing"

"He is huge, you'd have died!" Jack said. She exhaled, closing her eyes.

"How and why does he want you dead?" Jack asked, looking at her for a response.

Arcee sighed and pressed her head against the wall. Suddenly she was hit with a flashback of that day on Cybertron.

...

Cybertron. The gorgeous silver skyline of Iacon city stood tall and bold amongst the fog of pluming smoke. A large group of Refugees cowered under a small mechanical building, blending into the silver architecture that made up the majority of Cybertron.

Arcee sat in a small outpost nestled in the side of a building. She had a Cybertronian sniper rifle in her grasp. Arcee smiled as she talked to Tailgate.

"So...you been working on your aim Arcee?" He asked over the fuzzy static.

"You should have asked yourself that Tailgate. My aim is top of the line" She smiled, finger to her temple.

"Yeah, sure. What about that Decepticon that had me pinned to the wall? You took ages lining up the shot" He chuckled.

"Oh I had the shot, just wondering if you were worth the ammo" She bantered him.

They suddenly fell silent when the bold voice of Optimus Prime sounded over the channel.

"Arcee, do you have a visual on the approaching Decepticons?" Optimus asked her. She lifted the sniper scope to her optic and scanned the bridge ahead. A large group of Decepticon soldiers approached.
"Yes Optimus, they're coming. A lot of them"

"Arcee we have to protect these Refugees, no matter the cost. We must detonate the charges on the bridge supports" He told her. She looked down and grabbed the trigger for the charges. Tailgate spoke over the communicator.

"Optimus, I got a large squad of Vehicons moving to the Iacon library"

"Tailgate, do not engage. Jetfire is inbound with a missile run. Let the Aerialbots take care of them" "Understood Optimus" Tailgate went quiet over the comm as the Aerialbots moved in. At the same time Arcee flicked the safety off and rested her thumb on the trigger. She looked at the bridge below. With the sniper rested on her lap. She waited, patiently as the Decepticons filed onto the bridge. Come on, come on. Hurry the frag up! The last Decepticon walked onto the bridge. Arcee ran her thumb along the trigger and watched the armada crossing the bridge, nearly across to the other side. She squeezed the trigger as all the drones filed onto the bridge.

"Kaboom" She snarled, releasing the trigger.

One of the Decepticons on the bridge heard a rapid beeping. He looked around for the source; other Decepticon's barging past him. He leaned over the railing, seeing a large explosive beeping faster and faster, suddenly falling silent.

"Detonation! Get off the-"

A bright flash followed by a tectonic bang echoed and the bridge began to buckle and sag, finally cracking apart and falling to the Energon maelstrom below. She fist pumped the air.

"Yes! Optimus good detonation, Decepticons have been-" She stopped when two large Cybertronian Helicopter like jets flew over the burning ruin of the bridge. Poking through the thick smoke. They somersaulted, transforming into their robot modes, slamming into the ground on the Autobot side of the bridge wreck.

"Ha! Nice try Autobot scum!" One of them snarled. He was slightly smaller, and younger than the other...Grindor was his name.

"Grindor, you know how to call em. Come out Optimus! Surrender your refugees or die!" Blackout ordered.

Optimus Prime stepped out from behind a column, his cannon raised with one arm.

"Blackout, take your sibling and retreat. Or I will be forced to use deadly strength"

"Grindor is ready for combat. Grindor! Kill them!"

The smaller Decepticon lunged at Optimus, fists swinging in blind fury as Optimus ducked and swooped under every swing. Optimus clenched his fist and slammed it against the undisciplined Decepticon's head, sending him staggering back.

"So be it Optimus!" Grindor growled, brushing off the impact of the punch. He raised his palm, turning to a blaster. Red energy bellowed from the gun and Optimus barrel rolled behind the column.

"Warpath, are you in position old friend?" Optimus asked into his communicator from the disintegrating column cover.

"Bringing the hurt now Prime!" The raspy voice laughed. Suddenly a red Autobot leaped from the building above, fists clenched. He roared as he threw a punch to Grindor's head, blowing him off his feet.

Warpath slammed into the ground, cracking the metal plates into a crater. He stood up tall and proud, fearless. A stubby cannon stuck out from his chest, looking like a tank barrel.

"Warpath! Nice try!" Blackout chuckled, his chest opening and forming cannon, like Warpath's.

He fired a blast of purple energy from it. Warpath took it to the shoulder, using the force it delivered to thrust himself back around and fire his own chest cannon. The barrel recoiled and he tensed from the gun blast. Blackout raised his arms into a defensive position and an explosive shell erupted around his huge wrists, sliding back along the metal floor from the impact.

Grindor clambered to his feet. His aggression being his downfall, he lunged at Warpath, punching him across the metal terrain. He laughed and tensed his fists.

"You cannot understand the power of Grindor!" He demonically laughed. Warpath was being helped to his feet by Optimus.

"Goodbye Autobot-" He never finished the taunt. A loud bang echoed and he staggered slightly. Blackout looked at the back of his brother, watching him grow weaker. The silence was deafening.

"Grindor? What..."

Grindor looked over at his brother. A huge impact hole from a sniper round had erupted through his left optic and his motherboard. Energon dribbled down from the wound.

"Brother...I feel...cold" He muttered before slumping to his knees and slowly tilting, falling to the ground in a dead heap. His spark grew faint and finally died.

Blackout ran to his fallen brother. He propped him up onto his crouched knee, holding him close.

"No! Grindor no!" He cried. Blackout looked around for the killer, seeing Arcee on the highest floor of a Cybertronian skyscraper. She lowered her sniper rifle from her optic, a mixture of anger and slight regret on her face. The smoking barrel lowered to her stomach and she looked down at him.

Blackout's teeth gritted and his optic's tightened.

"Mark my words Autobot! I will kill you, even if it takes me an eternity! I will end you!" He roared before transforming and flying off into the forest of towers.

...

Arcee snapped back when the flashback faded and Jacks voice sounded.

"Arcee! Arcee, are you okay?" He pleaded.

She knew she had to tell him.

"During the war for Cybertron. I fought with Optimus to protect a small refugee camp. We got attacked by Blackout and another Decepticon...called Grindor. He was Blackout's brother. I fired a sniper round through his optic, killing him. It was either he died, or the innocent did. I chose him. Blackout resents me for it...and now he's back" she explained, looking upset with her actions. She struggled to believe Blackout had finally found her. Jack leaned down beside her.

"That is not your fault. You were protecting refugees. If you hadn't done that, he'd have killed them" Jack comforted her.

"Maybe. All I know is Blackout holds a grudge"

"And he's unleashed some sort of scorpion the size of a truck" Jack smiled to her.

"Come on Cee. We need to keep moving" He offered her his hand. Arcee looked at his palm. After a heavy sigh, she reached up and took it, climbing to her feet.

"Yeah, your right. Come on. We'll run across the field and quickly. Scorponok will feel the vibrations. He's a tough enemy, the only guy who works with blackout nowadays" She explained further.

"You know it?"

"Yes, and he is very dangerous, a perfect hunter...loyal to only Blackout"

They stepped out of the church, running through the graveyard. She stopped and looked at the terrain.

"We'd get there quicker in vehicle mode...but it'll give away our location"

"Once we're inside the town, we can find new cover. It'll be best to move fast to avoid the radiation" Jack thought aloud.

"Scorponok will be able to track us...but it's our only option. Jack..."

Arcee back flipped, turning into the blue motorcycle.

"Okay. Let's get going" He said, swinging his leg over, steadying himself. She revved, disturbing Chernobyl's terrifying silence. They had to move...and quick, because now Scorponok was on the prowl, along with Blackout.