Chapter 1

A crew of six Destron Transformers stood around the work site near Crystal City, appraising the near-complete tower that they had been commissioned to build. They were predominately purple and green in color, and sported individual alternate modes that reflected their particular functions.

Their team leader, Scrapper, had been studying the architectural drawings that had been given to him by Grapple, the Autobots' chief architect, but he had since switched the display on his data pad over to a set of very different schematics.

"What are those plans for?" asked Scavenger, who stood beside Scrapper looking over his shoulder at the display. As their mining and salvage expert, he had just returned from a salvage operation at a nearby work site, retrieving pieces of precious materials that had been carelessly left behind by the recent demolition works in the area before it was cleared in preparation for a new construction project.

"Hm?" Scrapper said, only half listening. He was a talented engineer, though his team mates felt that he rarely received the recognition that he deserved. Such a lack of recognition for Destron capabilities was very typical of their Autobot guardians.

"Those plans; I was just wondering what they were for?" Scavenger repeated patiently.

Scrapper turned to look at him. "Oh. Just a little something I came up with the other day." His friend waited expectantly, eager to know more. "It's kind of a way of combining all our strengths together to form a more powerful unit. It'll probably never work, though." One of the Autobots nearby looked over at the two and began to slowly walk towards them, so Scrapper quickly turned off the display. "We'd better get back to work," he said. Scavenger nodded, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to his team mates, and left the engineer alone as he went to conduct a geological survey of the terrain.

Mixmaster, their materials fabricator, began to sort through the load of mixed metals that Scavenger had left for him to process into brand new materials. The Autobot walked past them without saying a word, but gave them a cursory glance. As soon as he was out of audio range, Mixmaster commented to Scrapper, "I bet he's probably wondering when we're going to finally quit and join the other Destrons."

The construction robots were a close-knit team who always stayed together. Joining one of the rebellious Destron groups in an official show against Autobot rule would place them into an uncertain position. Residing in Iacon, their Autobot supervisors employed their extensive skills and expertise and, in return, treated them with a greater level of respect than the more rebellious Destrons. Indeed, the Autobots had their own engineers and architects, but the Destron team had proven to be just as sophisticated as them – if not more so – both in technical skill and in creativity. This had been an unforeseen outcome when they were created, and so the Autobots had been eager to ensure that they remained under their guardianship.

"I've been thinking…" Scrapper replied.

"What, about him?" Mixmaster said half-jokingly, gesturing towards the Autobot, who had his back turned to them as he inspected one of the newly installed support pylons.

"No, Mixer. About the rebels." When he didn't comment any further, Mixmaster gave him an expectant look, but Scrapper simply shrugged.

"What about them?" the fabricator prodded, not wanting to drop the subject. The truth was that Mixmaster had discussed this very same subject with Long Haul, their logistics expert, but they had been too hesitant to bring it up with Scrapper.

"I was just wondering, you know; whether they have what it takes to stand against the Autobots. For one thing, they're supremely outnumbered…" Scrapper thought about the recent events that had been reported on their local news channel. The Destron uprisings were beginning to have a huge impact on the planet's inhabitants, the various factions becoming an ever-increasing concern for the Autobots.

"Yeah, but Destrons are stronger. That ought to count for something." Demolishor, having listened in on their conversation, was eager to offer his view point. He was usually the first among them to rely on brute force when it came to getting anything done; this was no surprise, considering he was the team's demolitions specialist.

"Well, we can't just abandon this project. We've got to finish this tower. Besides, I wouldn't want to join up with any of the existing Destron groups – they're worse than the Autobots," Scrapper told them bluntly. Unfortunately, he was right and, with nothing more to say on the matter, they all returned to work.

Kolkular, the fortress capital located within Kaon, served as Liege Maximus' base of operations. From here, he commanded his legion of Destrons, a rebel group who opposed the established Autobot-controlled government of their home planet. They possessed a power and strength that remained unchallenged by other rebel groups, and the Liege was considered to be the Destrons' supreme ruler on Cybertron. His closest rival, and almost his equal, was Lord Straxus, who had seized control of the city-state of Polyhex and had imposed his rule upon its inhabitants, after the former head of state had been assassinated by a group of Autobot elite.

The Liege Maximus was a large, terrifying robot of mysterious origin, feared even by his most loyal followers. To the Liege, anyone was fair game – whether Autobot or Destron – he did not hesitate to terminate those who dared oppose him, however minor their transgressions. Most of his soldiers served him out of fear, rather than out of a sense of loyalty or faith in his leadership. He despised the Autobots, in particular, and all they stood for, and longed to take control of Cybertron for himself while exterminating all who would not submit to his demands, or those who he simply thought of as weak or unworthy.

The Liege's second in command, Jhiaxus, was just as cruel and calculating as his superior – if not more so. He harboured a deep desire to destroy all those opposed to the regime but, in particular, craved ultimate power over all others – including over the Liege himself.

"Jhiaxus!" Maximus called from his throne room, impatient. "Is the new warship completed?"

"No, Liege; we are still lacking necessary components, but once those have been sourced it will only be a matter of time before–" Jhiaxus tried to explain as he entered the private chamber, his tone cold and calculating.

The Liege would not tolerate any further delays, regardless of his subordinate's best efforts to appease him. "Silence!" He growled. "Those parts should have already been sourced. I don't care how many Autobots you have to tear to pieces to get them," he said spitefully. Then his tone changed. "Bring the Air Commander to me."

"Yes, Liege," Jhiaxus said, bowing before leaving the Liege's presence.

Several minutes later, the Air Commander entered the room. He approached the Liege with caution, recalling the last time he had been summoned to the throne room without warning. "You called for me, Liege?" the tall seeker greeted him, remaining a safe distance from the war lord's oversized form.

"Starscream," the Liege acknowledged, "I'm disappointed in you." His voice was low, deceptively calm.

Starscream tried to remain emotionless. He knew what was coming, and involuntarily took a step backwards. "Liege?"

The large mechanoid moved menacingly closer to the red, blue and grey seeker. "You incompetent fool!" he roared suddenly. "Did I not order you to keep a lookout for drones?" he reminded Starscream accusingly, his anger unforgiving. He did not wait for a reply. "The Autobots can easily spy on us while our satellite is off-line!" He was furious, as a large hand reached out to close around Starscream's neck, threatening to crush him.

The Air Commander struggled against his grasp, but the Liege was too strong. "I was helping with the installation of the new satellite," he defended, his voice a weak rasp. "I can't do two things at once. How was I to know that you wanted me to–"

But the Liege was impatient. "No more excuses! If you fail me one more time, Starscream, I will see to it that you are smelted down to molten scrap, and then recast into new armour plating!" The Liege held a tight grip around his neck, slowly lifting him off his feet. Then, satisfied that he had made his point, he let go of the seeker suddenly and watched as he fell backwards. Starscream held his hand to his neck as his air intakes overworked to compensate for the sudden shock, then quickly backed away as the Liege stepped past him on his way out of the throne room.

Shrapnel and his two best friends, Kickback and Bombshell, had been assigned the task of recycling the Autobots' decommissioned war ships at the dock yards in Iacon. Shrapnel had had the honour of being designated the leader of the trio by his team mates; the three of them were known as the Insecti-trons, a sub-group of Destrons that had been created with some unique abilities in mind, including the ability to process organic materials into a source of refined fuel or other useful material.

The day was drawing to a close, and Kickback was getting agitated. "If we're going to avoid the cell block, we'd better get these parts sorted," he said.

Shrapnel looked over at his friend, as he tore out a still functioning control unit from a damaged war ship they had been working on. "Just a second, second," Shrapnel replied, repeating his last word. His unusual speech pattern was a result of his brief resistance against Autobot rule and the subsequent forced reprogramming he had endured as they attempted to curb his rebelliousness. The reprogramming appeared to have been successful – or so the Autobots believed. "There's still time, time."

Bombshell helped Shrapnel as they began to strip down the ship's hull, panel by panel. "Why do we put up with them, Shrapnel?" he questioned suddenly. He was not a Transformer of many words, so when he spoke the others usually paid attention.

"Put up with whom? The Autobots, Autobots?" Shrapnel returned with his own question.

"Yes," Bombshell replied. Kickback stopped what he was doing and listened quietly, as Shrapnel considered their situation.

"If we turn against them, they'll pursue us wherever we go, go," he finally answered. "We wouldn't stand a chance, chance."

"We could go to Kaon – I've heard there are Destrons there who don't take orders from the Autobots. Who knows, they might allow us to join them?" Kickback offered, hoping that Shrapnel wouldn't dismiss the idea so quickly.

"They've just replaced one master for another. True freedom's something no Destron is ever likely to see," their friend replied. "And besides, the risk would be much too great, great." His voice had taken on a darker tone, but it also carried a sadness with it that he wasn't able to hide. "Let's just finish this job, and worry about our freedom some other time, time," he told his companions.

"Whatever you say, Shrapnel," Kickback said, trying to offer his support, but it did not help Shrapnel feel any better.

Starscream looked down from the uppermost point of the North Tower at the sprawling, half-ruined structures below that formed part of Kolkular fortress. From high up here, he would not be easily disturbed. The maltreatment that he so often suffered at the hands of the Liege reminded him once more of just how much he hated this place; how much he wished for nothing more than to leave and never return. But where would he and his team mates go? Kaon was the only place that guaranteed them safety from the Autobot guardians; since the mass rebellion and break away from their control, he and many Destrons like him were now considered fugitives.

The thought of surrendering and returning to the Autobots in the hopes that they might overlook his past contraventions was an option that was just as unappealing to him as staying in Kaon, if not more so, and was certainly out of the question.

"Hey, Starscream," a friendly voice said from behind him. It was one of his trine mates. "The Liege expects us to be at his announcement meeting." Starscream gave no reply, so Thundercracker tried again. "Starscream?" The blue and grey seeker walked up to stand beside him, studying him intently, his arms crossed. "You don't want to give him any more excuses to punish you."

Thundercracker probably knew how his trine leader felt more than anyone. He had witnessed the Liege's abuse of his friend countless times, but had always been powerless to help him. No one really knew why Maximus had it in for him, though he strongly suspected that it was because, of all the Destrons under his command, Starscream showed the greatest potential for successfully undermining his rule. Even though he had never deliberately gone against the Liege's wishes, some part of him had always maintained a stubborn streak of independence, and this probably irritated Maximus more than he would ever care to reveal.

Finally, Starscream turned to face him. "If the Liege is successful in overtaking Iacon, what do you think will happen to us?" His question was an unlikely one, and had come from seemingly out of nowhere.

Thundercracker had never really considered such a scenario. He assumed that they would remain a part of the Liege's forces when the war lord took control of Cybertron. Nevertheless, he knew his friend well enough to know that when he spoke like this, it usually involved an ulterior motive. "Starscream, if you're thinking of doing anything stupid–"

"What if we were to disappear for a while? Head up north, to Tarn, where they won't think to find us?" Starscream continued, ignoring the blue seeker's comment.

"And then what? We'd need to find a reliable source of energy to survive. Even if we were to make it out of here in one piece, they'd eventually find us, sooner or later." Thundercracker didn't want to sound pessimistic, but he felt that he had to tell him the truth. This wasn't the first time that the Air Commander had planned their escape from Kaon, but every time he did so he was never able to carry it through, for one reason or another.

"Perhaps… it would be better to die trying, than to continue to live in this miserable slag hole." His voice was lowered, as though someone might overhear them talking.

"Come on, we'll be late for the announcement," Thundercracker reminded him. He didn't want to ignore his friend's sentiments, but at the same time he didn't want to encourage him towards taking any risks. Still, if Starscream really felt that strongly about leaving the Destron group, he would ultimately stand by his wing leader, regardless of the outcome.

Starscream reluctantly conceded, and they launched together into the air, transforming into their jet modes before making a sharp turn down towards the fortress below.