Steelbite… The name rang through Warrior Star's processor, bouncing and echoing off the inside of her skull like an endless, crashing wave. From deep in the darkness that was her past, a memory emerged, slamming to the forefront of her thoughts with so much force that the femme nearly staggered, her massive head lowering and her optics flickering offline as she relived a memory that was not her own.

The air changed around her, the smell as familiar as it was painful as Warrior Star onlined her optics and looked around. Thick dark smoke clogged the air, making each intake pained and harsh as the landscape spread out in front of her massive paws. Her spark clenched in her chest when she realized where she was.

Warrior Star was standing on the outskirts of the capitol of Cybertron, on the border of where a once peaceful civilization bled away into the mines where so many mechs and femmes had struggled and died to provide for those they loved. In front of her stood over a dozen mechs, big, scarred, and covered in energon. Some were bi-ped and, some were on four paws, a scattered, rag-tag mix of mechs that made her curl her lip plates uneasily, baring her massive dentals.

Miners. She thought, staring at the mechs that were beastlike in build, studying the marks from where the harnesses had cut into their thick armor. The bi-ped mechs had no such marks, but she could see scarring on shoulder joints on the closer ones. The beasts had hauled the mining carts, and the bi-peds had mined the stone and ore.

None of them had noticed her, and she finally turned her head to see what the lot of them were staring at. At the far end of the battlefield, his frame mostly hidden in the thick smoke, a giant of a mech stood fearlessly, his ice blue optics glittering with anger as he stood over a downed femme. His head was low, energon dripping from his parted jaws as he panted harshly, even more of the vital fluid streaming from wounds all over his heavily armored frame. Even in the chaos and the smoke and the darkness, Warrior Star recognized him instantly.

Saber…my…mech creator… Reeling with shock, her cobalt blue optics dropped to the femme sprawled limply on the energon-soaked dirt behind Saber, and her spark seized with dread when she was able to see the glimmer of silver armor through the haze.

Mother…Stardust… Even from the distance she was at, Warrior Star knew by instinct alone that the silver femme was already offline, but her sparkmate stood over her anyway, determined to protect his bonded to the very end.

Warrior Star was ripped from her thoughts when a big mech stepped from the shadows, prowling through the ranks as the pack of mechs in front of her fell back to let him pass. His strange dark optics blazed with a combination of twisted joy and murderous hate that had the bronze femme yearning to rip his spark from his chest and crush it in her jaws. He bared lethal serrated dentals, already coated and glowing with energon. His smoke colored armor was dented and scratched and stained, energon and dirt mixed all over his frame, but she still recognized him instantly.

"Steelbite." Warrior Star snarled, only to realize that Saber had spoken at exactly the same moment as she had, snarling the other mech's name as well. The dark mech stopped and raised his head, his optics glittering coldly as he bared his fangs in a deadly grin.

"Saber. I have waited a long time for this day. Pity Stardust isn't online…I really wanted her to watch you die. You stole everything from me, my hopes, my dreams…and the affection of the only femme I've ever loved. She was supposed to be mine. Then you came along, and just like that…she was gone, out of my reach. For years I have watched you, waiting for this very moment, so I could repay you for all the misery you heaped on me over the years. I hope you said goodbye to those creations of yours before you came here…because I'm going to tear your spark out and crush it in my claws." Steelbite advanced, only to freeze when a rumbling snarl tore through the air between him and Saber, the huge white mech broadening his stance before uttering his response.

"You were unworthy, Steelbite. You always have been. Your anger and love for inflicting pain marked you long before I came to this place. You were only fit for the lowest of manual labor, and you certainly did not deserve the affection and companionship of a gentle, loving femme like Stardust. Her choice was made based on what she wanted in a sparkmate, not on what a potential suitor wanted from her. She chose with her spark, and in the end, her spark chose me. Get over it, mech. That was far in the past, and she's gone now, thanks to you. You may have lost her to me long ago, but you lost her permanently the second she offlined. And I'm going to make you pay for that, in the most painful way possible. And even if I can't offline you today, I promise you this. Someday, one or all of my creations will find you, and they will end you." Saber was shaking with rage by the time he finished speaking, and the two mechs glared at one another for a long moment before they each launched into the air.

The whole scene faded in front of Warrior Star a hairs-breadth before the mechs made contact, and she came back to reality and raised her head, her cobalt blue optics blazing with wrath as she stared at Steelbite coldly. Next to her, Breaksteel was watching her uneasily, his light yellow optics flickering as she took one slow step forward, her massive black claws sinking deep into the dirt as she bared her fangs in a silent snarl.

Unaware of what had just happened, Warrior Star's brothers fell back and regrouped around Moonflight, the four siblings facing Steelbite and his gang fearlessly as the wounded mech watched the movements of those around him warily. It was Warrior Star that broke the tense silence, her voice low and grinding and filled with a murderous rage that made every mech present tremble.

"You…killed them…both of them. I saw it. My mech creator's memories survived. So did his words…and yours. Saber was right…you were unworthy of everything you sought. And he was right about another thing…we found you. My brothers and I, we found you. And now we'll end you." Across from her, Steelbite's optics widened to almost comical proportions as she let loose with an unearthly howl, and launched herself at him.

A/N: Been working on the notes for this chapter for a week...I should really be in bed now but started working on typing them up, and slag me, I just couldn't stop. So here's one quick, short filler chapter for ya'll. A little more history on Steelbite...turns out it wasn't just the Guardians he hated. Who'd a thunk it?

Thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers and followers! Ya'll are amazing!

As always, love if you will, hate if you must. I will take anything that you care to dispense.

Until we meet again...

Kani