Chapter 12

The caverns upon this desolate moon of Jupiter's were vast. Its charcoal black stone ran for miles beneath the surface, hollowed out by years of volcanic eruptions. Lava flowed freely like a stream from immense stagnant lakes of molten rock and iron. The Nemesis sat precariously above one such cavern. A series of intertwining tunnels snaked their way into an ancient underground caldera, long since extinct.

The Decepticons had mined their way down to the super heated lava lake, bubbling beneath their feet. Over time they had cannibalised their ship, using its parts to fashion an energy producing factory. The energy provided by the volcanic heat was not as pure as their life giving energon and took such a tediously long time to manufacture; it was almost not worth their efforts.

Megatron had larger ideas in mind however, much larger. He stood at the top level of the cavern, looking down upon the warriors and drones that served him, they worked tirelessly preparing the hatchlings, infusing them with the manufactured energy, they had started to stir and soon it would be time to send them on their first mission. Most of the Decepticons had unwavering loyalty to him, with the odd exception; he grimaced as his thoughts flashed fleetingly to the many deeds of Starscream. Starscream was a proficient killer and a shrewd, cunning warrior. Megatron had made the mistake of underestimating him in the past, never again. Now he kept him subservient through fear and a mutual hatred of the Autobots, but there would be no place for one such as he once his plan had come into fruition. This thought pleased him.

Gone were the days when he was over lord of an entire planet, when he once controlled all beneath him with terror and intimidation. The only way to rule, that is, until the hypocritical and pretentious Prime, in his short sightedness, had decided to betray him. Stealing from his grasp the very source of power he could have used to ultimately rule Cybertron and the known Universe. It was all snatched from his clutches, he was deemed an arrogant, power crazed, mad-man, he simply wanted to ensure the survival and complete domination of his race. Prime's arrogance had doomed them all to a life amongst strange stars, wandering aimlessly. No home and no purpose. He would take from Prime the very thing that had been taken from him; he would ruin the pitiful planet Earth and rule what was left, he would strip it of its natural resources of energy and he would force Prime to submit, to kneel before him and succumb to his mighty wrath. 'Yes' mused Megatron in a rare moment of contentment, clenching his talons in fierce determination. 'Death is too good for Prime, they will all pay and he can watch them die slowly, knowing it is at his hand.' He continued to watch his plan unfold around him, deep in thought, when he noticed Soundwave approaching.

"The plan progresses well Lord Megatron." His rumbling, unemotional voice, which echoed around the cave, was impenetrably patient and calm.

"Excellent. Have you heard from the others?"

"Starscream and the others will be returning very soon. He wished me to inform you that he brings you success and a gift."

Megatron shot Soundwave a suspicious look, "Starscream, a gift? What could that fool possibly have done now?" Megatron swore in agitation, why he couldn't do simply what he was asked to do was beyond him. It was a rhetorical question and Soundwave knew it, he continued briefing Megatron unabashed.

"The hatchlings are almost ready for transport; they have enough energy to last approximately two Earth days."

Megatron smiled menacingly, "The asteroids? Are they in position?"

"Almost, the singularity machine however requires more power. The energon plasma weapon remains non-functional"

Megatron growled impatiently, "Starscream better pray to Primus that what he brings me is pleasing. Get the Hatchlings transported to the asteroids and prepare the machine for activation."

"Yes Lord Megatron." Soundwave moved silently back to the cavern below. The Hatchlings all controlled by a single command and thought process, followed him to the Nemesis. Megatron relished in the numbers they had managed to create. The Earth would be over taken by the deadly swarm, the humans would suffer at their hands, the ones that survived the impact that is. He headed back to the Nemesis. Stepping onto his bridge, he was greeted by a severely damaged Longhaul and Thundercracker, who was still gripping onto his severed limb like it was his life blood. Ignoring their whines of pain and discomfort, while the repair bots got to work, he searched for Starscream. He did not have to look far.

"Lord Megatron, the mission was successful."

"I'll be the judge of that Starscream." Megatron replied his voice laced with a threatening undertone and growing impatience. "What have you brought me?"

"One of the enemy, she was foolish enough to stand up to us. The femme was made to suffer." He dropped the limp form of Arcee onto the deck. Landing at Megatron's feet, he glanced down at her tiny figure unimpressed.

"Does she live, is her spark intact?"

"Yes, I made sure of it."

He lifted her from the floor, dangling her like a rag doll in front of his optics. "You have done well this time Starscream." Starscream allowed himself a curt bow in response, he did not like to submit to Megatron, but praise was praise. Drawing himself up to his full height, which was still a few feet beneath Megatron, he questioned Megatron lightly, "Will her spark be enough?"

"For now. It will power the machine enough to create a singularity we can use to sling-shot the Asteroids to Earth. For the new energon weapon to work however, we will need something much more powerful."

"The Matrix." Starscream hissed.

"The Matrix is merely the tool to focus the weapon and provide enough energon for it to be destructive" He explained in a rare moment of patience, his voice lowered dangerously. "I want the spark of Prime. I will drain his life force from him, that will be more than enough to power the weapon and I will use him to conquer that pathetic planet."

The Decepticons murmured in excited agreement.

"Take her to the machine. It is on board the final Asteroid. That will be our base."

"Yes Megatron." Starscream grabbed Arcee and turned to leave, Megatron's voice stopped him. "The humans' space station, did you destroy it?"

At that moment an angry Blastoff arrived at speed and slammed brutally into Starscream, sending them both crashing to the floor.

"You knew there'd be others! You left me to fight them myself, you coward!" Blastoff screamed in Starscream's face in fury. Snarling with menace Starscream kicked himself free. Blastoff still injured from his skirmish with Bumblebee and Sideswipe, collapsed wearily to the floor.

"You dare to question me?!" Starscream forcefully slapped Blastoff into the metal plating. Raising his arm to strike him again, Megatron's claw yanked him back. "Enough!" Starscream bristled with rage, "Megatron I…" Grabbing him by the throat Megatron drew him in closely.

"I don't want to hear it." He squeezed, Starscream choked beneath his grip unable to respond. "Blastoff dignify yourself, get repaired I can't have you falling apart like an Autobot when it comes to battle." Turning back to the writhing Decepticon captured in his all too powerful claw, his voice was almost a whisper, he purred. "I could crush you right here, Starscream. Give me one reason why I shouldn't."

Starscream flailed in growing panic, Megatron was not famous for his mercy.

"I made the best decision… Blastoff could get closer to the human…station. I did not know about the Autobots… I...I thought they perished… on the A… Ark…" His voice dropped to a whimper as Megatron's expression hardened.

"The Ark?" He growled. Longhaul spoke up. "We saw it crash on the red planet, the virus worked. Prime and his medic were onboard."

"SURVIVORS?!" Megatron roared, still staring at Starscream, the pleasure at his distress being all too good an opportunity to pass up.

Longhaul was meek, "I...I…We… we don't know if they survived… We left the planet on Starscream's orders." He stammered. Megatron's glowing red optics narrowed at Starscream.

"If Prime has died, then I will use your spark in his place." He spat in disgust, hurling him mercilessly into a bulkhead. "GET TO WORK!" His anger was enough for Starscream, without any hesitation he scrambled off the floor, picking up the still form of Arcee he transformed and hastily retreated from Megatron's sight.

"Why do you not punish him, he is a traitor, he will betray us all!" Blastoff exclaimed. Megatron blasted a hole into the metal plating beside him. The heat from his weapon scorched the armour plating on Blastoff's arm. He winced in pain and dismay, immediately wishing he had kept his mouth shut. Megatron was beside him in an instant. Once again Blastoff found himself brutally and with much more force than before, slapped into the grill plating.

His optics glowing like hell fire, Megatron smirked unpleasantly. "I am counting on it."

****

Starscream was furious. Reaching the stationary Asteroid he flew inside. Its interior had been hollowed out to allow for their new weapon. He glared at it in frustration. They had no way of knowing if this weapon could even work. A vision inside Megatron's head, given to him by the shard within him that had originated from the Allspark, if he didn't know better; he would swear that Megatron was losing his mind once and for all.

Starscream secured Arcee to a smooth metal table, located directly in front of the main power core of their new energon weapon. He worked the controls of the metal slab, until it was positioned vertically in front of the machine's core. His long fingers worked carefully, removing part of her chest plate, he inserted a long cable into her chest. It was locked into the machine, which thrummed to life. Energy passed along the cable, sparking electric spat at him as it snaked into the power core. Starscream watched in fascination as Arcee's spark began to feed the hungry machine. Stepping back, he observed the whole machine throbbing and pulsating. The energy, although not a vast amount, was enough to power the head of the weapon; soon they would be able to create a small singularity, the gravity of which, would sling shot the Asteroids and their cargo, towards Earth. Glancing back at the twitching Autobot, Starscream felt uneasy. It was one thing to kill your enemy in battle, but to stand and watch as they are turned into a living battery was slightly disconcerting. 'He could use any of us on that machine.' Grim thoughts leaked into his mind, this was no time for doubt. His optics met unexpectedly with those of Arcee's. She was conscious. Starscream swore, things were about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable.

Arcee couldn't move. Starscream had secured her with metal shackles to the smooth plating. Fastened tightly, she tried to wriggle, anything to escape the awful monstrosity that lay before her. Her joints were seized from the damage. She began to feel strange. Autobots didn't get sleepy as humans understood it but if she had to describe the sensation now then that would be what she would tell them. Forcing her head to look down, she noticed the cable feeding into her chest. Her eyes widened in horror. The energy feeding the weapon, it was hers; they were going to drain her spark dry. Fidgeting more frantically, she began to panic. Then the agony filled her internal systems. It started slowly, gradually building from her chest, travelling outwards from her spark. All her sensors and neurons fired at once. The pain was excruciating, her vision was swimming, but she couldn't offline the machine kept her running, kept her conscious. She heard, rather than felt herself scream, the sound terrified her. She prayed to Primus for it to end, her eyes found Starscream watching her with intense discomfort. She tried to plead with him, in a desperate attempt to stop the pain, her voice barely audible, she gasped.

"Pleeeaasse… stop…" She implored. Starscream didn't respond, he merely averted his gaze to the machine, clearly too disturbed to watch the torture.

He was not squeamish by any means, but the unsettling screams of the Autobot's agony, drilled into his head. He was a warrior, he did not administer or carry out torture, this was wrong. Glancing back at Arcee, she continued to beg, her cries having turned into mere whimpers as her body convulsed with each pulse of energy that passed to the monstrous machine.

"Please just… kill me… no more…" He turned to her viciously, hating having his discomfort exposed. He moved in closer, invading her personal space.

"Do you Autobots not even die with dignity?"

Arcee barely heard his snarl. The pain was unbearable, she felt like she could remember nothing else.

"Kill me…" She whispered. Starscream swore at her in Cybertronian before turning his back on her and storming away. Summoning the very last of her strength, she cried out, her voice cracking under the strain.

"STAR...SCREAM!!"

Upon hearing his name, Starscream cringed. He continued on his way. His brain filling with past images of torture he did not care to remember. Just the un-pleasantries of war he reminded himself. Arcee's screams continued to echo through the hollowed-out rock, reverberating off the walls, attacking his senses. Pausing he took a very human, deep breath. "Megatron will have my head for this." Charging his small EMP weapon that had recently been installed onto his arm, he turned and headed back towards the machine.