Chapter 1: The ship...

Bridge of the Nemesis, present time

Bored! He was bored out of his processor!

Starscream made his seat swirl around for the hundredth time, then gave those damn sensor arrays a death glare. He was the Air Commander and Second in Command! Such tasks were beneath him! Monitor duty was the pit, and Megatron had made him do it only to spite him! The seeker leaned back on the seat, slumping tiredly and yawning widely. Night cycle shift was even worst... At least during the day cycles there were other bots around to observe and bitch with! Even Megatron himself, and bitching Megatron was Starscream's favorite's sport!

The quietness of the bridge in the dead hours of the night shift was almost deafening... You can heard the tiniest sounds tenfold as if they were magnified. Little creaks of the ship's hull, of the metal tiles of the floor, of the ceiling... footsteps on another part of the ship that were resonating through the elevator's conduit. This was making the usually obnoxious and loud bot very nervous and fidgety, and quiet for once. He had no one to talk to and he wouldn't talk to himself... He sighed and closed his optics. No one would notice if he snooze for a bit...

Drifting into recharge slowly, the thin bot didn't noticed the little red light the suddenly started to flash on the sensor's board. Maybe if he should've paid attention, things would've turned differently... But Doom was already on its way, and there was nothing that could've been done to avoid it at this point.

oOo

IT had drifted into space for millions of years. IT had been waiting, lurking around, looking for new preys to sate IT's terrible, unending hunger for the living. For fresh souls and flesh... IT didn't mind if said flesh and blood were inorganic in nature... IT wasn't difficult on the choice of IT's next meal. IT already has quite a collection of souls, and sparks, from living creature unfortunate enough to cross IT's way. But IT's latest meal had been so long ago... IT was craving, hungering for a fresh meal. IT was searching the space around IT's lair for a new prey.

And IT found it. IT found it in the form of a little ship coming IT's way. IT boosted with gleeful joy at the idea of a meal. IT sent one of IT'S newly acquired minion, a ship that IT captured many, many millenia ago. It was his bait... And it was going to bring to him those fresh, delicious preys! More souls to consume...

IT's wait had ended.

oOo

Starscream woke up with a start when he was kicked out of his seat by a large pede and landed on his aft on the floor. The lithe seeker glared around for the source of the disturbance... Only to be met with the business end of a fusion cannon in the faceplates. He looked up slowly and saw his Leader's deep scowl. Ho slag... he was done for... Megatron hated when mechs neglected their duties and he caught his recharging on his post...

"Megatron, I can explain!..." He immediately started but he was cut short by the tyrant's deep, cold voice.

"Shut your big mouth and get on your pedes, incompetent fool! You were supposed to check the sensors! SO explain me why we never got warned of this?"

He lifted Starscream off the bridge's floor by his neck and almost slammed him on the bridge's large plassteel glass. And Starscream's eyes widened. There was a ship out there, almost close enough for them to jump on without using a shuttle! How could he had missed it? And why in the pit did the proximity alarm never got off? He could touch the thing by extending a servo outside the plassteel glass...

"M-Megatron, I... I can explain... It wasn't my fault! I must've have drifted into recharge unknowingly!" He said quickly, hoping the large dark grey mech would buy it. He sighed in relief when, after a warning glare of his narrowed red optics, the warlord let him fall to the floor.

"I have a new assignment for you, Starscream. I want to know everything you can gather about this ship. It looks in perfect state, and if it a drifting wreckage, we can claim it as our own perfectly legally. We are in uncharted, unclaimed space, so no one had rights on floating things around here. Finder's keeper, as they say..."

He had a gleeful smirk and a dark chuckle, putting a hand on the glass window. Behind him, Lugnut had been listening to the conversation and the big oaf looked nervous, if possible. He was staring at the 'ghost ship' through the window and his single optic was slightly narrowed. Starscream narrowed his own, it doesn't takes much to scare the big dumb bot. Blackarachnia and Blitzwing were there too, but as ever the strange femme was silent and closed, and the crazy triple-changer was currently on his cold personality and unusually calm. It was almost uncomfortable as no one was talking and the bridge was awfully silent. Only Megatron seemed pleased with their discovering and he finally took a step back from the lage window to turn to Starscream.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I gave you an order, Starscream!"

The seeker hurried to his pedes and gave Megatron a curt nod, before glaring some. he was met by a cold, calm look and the glaring match was soon over, with Megatron as the clear winner when Starscream lowed his optics first. He had a amused smirk when the seeker turned around to go sit at the sensor console. He was muttering something in his breath and Megatron lifted and optic ridge at this, very amused. It was so easy to manipulate those inferior bots... And Starscream was all but strong-willed. Pathetic...

"I want a report in a cycle, Starscream! You better have something interesting for me!" He looked at the ship outside the window again and added. "I believe this ship has much to offer us... Very much..."

oOo

It was time to lay his first hand. They were unaware, blissfully ignorant of their incoming doom. IT had met creatures like them before, so IT had sent them to prepare IT's arrival. And now all IT have to do is wait and let them loose their minds... Before feasting on their souls.

oOo

Starscream had been working for twenty minutes now, and he could hear Blitzwing and Lugnut speak in the background. But he was ignoring them as ever, they were always talking nonsense. Blitzwing was a crazy fool and Lugnut... The big idiot worshiped Megatron like he's Primus reincarnated! What a fool... He sighs and concentrated on his scans.

Something was very off with this ship, out there, and he was frequently shooting looks at it. For once no lights were on, and it looked too dark, too... empty. Besides... There was something else. AN aura of malignity that was shrouding this floating piece of scrap like a living thing. It was making the atmosphere suffocating, and making him fidgety and nervous.

"That's slag... It's only a floating wreckage... There's nothing malicious with it!" He said to himself in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Just forget it and focus!"

He resumed his task, going through the database to find out what that ship was, if they had any records of it. And he did found out something... very interesting. He quickly downloaded the file and called out through his internal comm link.

'Megatron, I have your datas. You can join me in the command center."

The replys came quickly of course, and the tyrant's voice sounded slightly... different. It made Starscream wince some but he said nothing more.

"I'm on my way."

Fifteen minutes later, they were all gathered in the command center and Starscream gave his report about what he found out about the ship both by the scans and into the databanks. there was a lot of very interesting things indeed. And Starscream had already told it all to Megatron in private, a few minutes ago. The tyrant, oddly, didn't seemed surprised by his revelations... Like he already knew what he was about to say.

"Ok, first of all, that ship don't have an energy signature of a recognizable type. It do emit a signature, but nothing I ever saw before. It's very odd... It had Cybertronian markings on the hull, I could make up the name of the ship. It's an ancient cybertronian ship, from the Great War."

"What iz the name of that ship? If it's Cybertronian, maybe ve had heard of it before." Blitzwing said in a cold voice, his cold personality was on, at the moment, which Starscream was glad for. "That energy signature... Does it remind jou of anything at all?" He added and Starscream had to admit it was a good question.

Starscream, for good measure, glared at the triple changer for interrupting him and he resumed his speech. Blackarachia seemed interested for once and she was looking at him quite intensely. He sent her a glare too and she smirked. He didn't liked that creepy techno-organic freak... She was so weird.

"Unfortunately, no, it doesn't reminds me of anything. I never see it before. I already told you. And as for the ship's name, it's the Primus's Hand. A large exploration ship that had for mission to explore the galaxy in search for new energon sources. They were on a 6 Vorns mission and almost back home when they went missing. The ship and his crew was never heard of before."

He paused looking at them all. They seemed a little shocked, everyone had heard of this ship, it was an infamous story. A lot of rumors had spread after the ship went missing and many were dark and less then happy. It implied death and destruction, and even some unknown and unseen forces of nature. None were ever proved of course as the ship was never found... Until now apparently. He was right outside and floating apparently quietly in the depths of space. And something was off with it. He couldn't tell what but it was there... Whatever it was.

"The Primus's Hand? Wasn't it an Autobot ship?" Blackarachnia asked and looked through the window.

She had been an Autobot before and she had heard of this ship. It wasn't a good story with a happy ending... In the academy she had taken a course about the Great Wars and there was a section about famous missing or destroyed ships. And this one had been mentioned. A distress signal had been sent before the ship went definitely missing, but the rescue crew sent to the coordinates found nothing, not even wreckages that would indicate a destruction. They searched for a few days but there was nothing to find. They returned to Cybertron with the bad news and the story was transformed into a Ghost Ship story by the rumors.

SHe was wrenched out of her thoughts by Starscream's answer.

"Yes, it's and Autobot exploration's ship from the Great War. But I suppose you should know, you were an Autobot after all." he snickered and she hissed at him. Megatron glared at them bith and they settled. "Anyway, that ship had been declared missing 3 million years ago by the Autobot Council. ANd now we found it..."

Megatron looked through the window at the ship and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. That ship was something more then it appears. He was a little doubtfull about his own will to loot it now. Maybe it wasn't worth the risks... He frowned and crossed his arms, growling some. He hadn't been surprised when Starscream told him this because... Well, something weird happened to him right before he called him...

oOo

Half an hour earlier, Megatron's quarters

Megatron was sipping an energon and going through some files, he was very interested by this ship and he was making researches of his own. He didn't noticed it right away but the temperature of the room slowly but steadily dropped, until he had a shiver and then noticed the frost on his outer plating and the walls, even the desk. He had been so focused... he hadn't noticed anything.

He turned around, feeling a presence with him in the room. he was expecting to see one of his men but in fact the room was empty despite the cold. He narrowed his optics and walked to the wall to check the enviromental controls. They were still set to his favorite temperature and humidity and he frowned. He was still examining it when he felt a light touch on his right shoulder. He spinned around again and looked around.

Nothing.

"Whoever is pulling that stupid prank off, show yourself! I'll be merciful!"

He was starting to get nervous now, and he balled his fists. Whoever was behind this was going to get scrapped to a pile of spare parts! He didn't liked being played with. And he started searching his quarters for any proof of someone hiding there, but there was no one around. he was still alone in the room... While he was looking at a ventilation shaft on the ceiling he could swear he saw bright, red optics staring at him. Orange-red lights like two small flames... It was not looking like usual optic light.

He stared for a moment, until it vanished, but the cold in the room didn't f go away. On the contrary, it seemed to increase again and there was ice growing on the walls and the ceiling and around the vent shafts. And...

...Meeegaaatrooon...

He spined on his heels, he was sure he heard a faint, barely audible voice behind him, almost in his audio. He saw a movement from the corner of his optic but when he tried to focus on it it was gone again. Another light touch, on his chest this time.

...Meeeegaaatrooon... Cooomeee wiiith uuus... Cooome... We aaaawaaaits...

"Show yourself! The joke's over! I'm not amused!" He shouted and spinned around again. There were more movements from the corner of his optics, but never could he make out something tangible. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

More whispers, but he couldn't make out words this time, all around him. Megatron wouldn't admit it but he was getting afraid. This was grating on his nerves a lot! And it was frightening... Very disturbing... He was a warrior, he wasn't afraid of ghosts! If such things really existed... But how could he explained this any other way?...

...Coooome to uuus... The Priiimuus's Haaand... COooome to the ship... Weee aaawaaaits...

There was a roar then, a screech like anything else he ever heard. and a violent wind blew through his quarters, creating a hurricane and making everything flew. It lasted maybe 30 nanoclicks and then it stopped, and it was like nothing ever happened. He blinked and looked at his tidy and warm quarters. No ice, no hurricane, and no disorder at all.

Nothing was out of place.

He almost jumped out of his plating when he personal comm link went off and he answered after a few nanoklicks. It was Starscream and he had news about the ship. He left his quarters after a last look and went to the meeting with his SIC.

oOo

Present time...

"I want a team ready in 10 breems to go into that ship! Starscream, you will lead them! I will stay on the Nemesis with Blackarachnia! It's an order!"

The tyrant's look was hard and unwavering. He had to find out about this ship and the mystery surrounding it. If there was really ghosts in there... Well, they'll find out soon enough! ANd besides... They wanted him there? He'll have to disappoint them! He felt Starscream's intense look on him and glared at him.

"What are you waiting for? You have your orders! Obey them, Starscream!"

The seeker nodded and said, sharply.

"Very well, ho fearless leader! Lugnut, Blitzwing, with me! We're going to explore this ship!"

But something was telling him that it was a very bad idea... very very bad.

-TBC-