Transformers Team Six

The students got onto the bus like their counselor told them to do, but they were still hesitant. What bad people were watching them, and why? But as their bus ride began, they noticed something. The car that Cyberwarp was looking at... was following them. It was right behind them, and still moving.

But then the car suddenly turned the other way and just left. Now half of them thought maybe it was just a coincidence, but based on how their guidance counselor spoke to them about that car? They were more than a bit worried...

Cyberwarp, having gotten her kid somewhere safe, parked her van in an alleyway, hidden from the public eyes. If she was gonna face those two, didn't want people to find her car which would no doubt lead them to read her plates and find her home.

Looking into the back, she faced the husky that was sitting in the back, upright like it was expecting pets.

"Alright Glit. You ready boy?" Cyberwarp asked.

The husky nodded.

"Alright. Now let's take care of some business."

She opened up the car doors and Glit jumped out with her. Locking them up, the two of them started running down the alleyway. Time to see if they had to fight.

After they made their stop, the kids walked down the street, looking for someone, anyone they could talk to. They needed a policeman, or someone. If Cyberwarp knew someone dangerous was watching, maybe they could report it like they should be doing.

Just then, a police car was driving down the street. Maybe he could help them!

"Oh, officer, hey!" Ocellus waved.

The police car saw the girl wave at them, and slowly pulled up to them and parked itself next to them.

"Officer, I'm so sorry, it's just--we... we think there's someone bad after us!"

"Kids, hold on," the police car said, using the radio echoing from the cabin to speak. "Move into that abandoned parking lot, we'll talk in there."

The kids weren't sure why he wanted them to move there, but if he wanted to talk, maybe that would be their best option. Nether-less, they pulled themselves right into the abandoned parking garage. Worryingly out of sight from the public eyes...

"Alright, alright, slow down. Look, normally I would send someone else to handle this situation, but you caught me on a break; slow day. Now, use your adult words, talk to me. What did you see?" the officer said from inside the car.

"We went to go talk to our guidance counselor down at the beach, but she saw something and told us to leave. And after we did, I think we're understanding. Some scary person in a sports car was stalking us!"

"Some black and blue car, 70s model, maybe?" Sandbar said, unsure.

"So do you think you can help us?" Smolder asked.

The kids were expecting a response. But to their surprise, the entire garage went really quiet. Eerily quiet. Complete silence fell from the police officer. And they waited. But he didn't reply back.

"Sir, we asked you a question, can you help us?" Sandbar repeated.

Once again, more silence.

"Come on, we just want your help!" Smolder said, getting up close. She placed her hands on the hood, trying to look inside the cabin, but she couldn't. The windows were completely tinted, no way to look inside. "Sir, come on!"

The car's engine roared at Smolder, forcing her to back off and it took two centimeters to move in front of her.

"Hey, whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"

And the car still revved it's engine at them, forcing them to back up. The engine kept growling and he kept moving at them more and more.

"Okay, we're backing up, please stop!"

But the police car didn't stop, and it kept forcing them to back up further and further. And it didn't stop, it was like whoever was driving it was intentionally trying to corner them!

"Please, stop! We're sorry!"

But something happened. The headlights in the car slowly pushed out, swiveling around and moving right at them. This wasn't typical of any police vehicle, even in their modern era they hadn't developed this kind of technology! And stranger, a bright red light flashed up and down on the six students, slowly with an energy whirring sound. Almost as if it was... scanning them.

After a few seconds the light vanished, and the headlights pulled themselves back close to the grille.

"Uhhhh..."

The car violently transformed, slamming it's fists into the ground and digging into the very ground with it's sharp claws. The front tires flipped out to form the tops of the shoulders and a black head with horns and menacing red eyes glared at them, growling.

Only one thing was on their mind.

"Run, now!"

Picking up their feet, they ran like hell as fast as they could through the abandoned lot. The metal monster stomped after them like a T-Rex, only he didn't want to eat them, he wanted to stop them.

"What is that thing!?" Smolder screamed.

"I don't know!" Silverstream cried, jumping over a small piece of debris in her run.

"Can we talk about this later!?" Gallus shouted. "I'd rather not get crushed by a giant freaking robot!"

But the robot caught up with them. His hand swooped under and flipped Silverstream into the air, making her scream as she was thrown up and slammed onto the top of a car.

"Silver!" Yona cried.

The Seaquestrian student groaned from the pain as she tried to pull herself up, feeling the wind partially knocked out of her. But then she saw the monster come closer to her, looking ever more menacing. She tried to pull herself away but he slammed his hand down on the side of the vehicle to hold it in place as he looked at her; those beady red eyes staring into her soul.

"Are you username Hippofeesh127!?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Silverstream panicked, not understanding.

"Are you username Hippofeesh127!?" Barricade repeated.

Now she heard him. "Y-Yeah...?"

He got up in her face, almost spitting at her with fury. "Where is the traitor CW-2187? Where is Cyberwarp!?" Slamming his fist against the car again, Silverstream rolled off the car just in time and ran with the rest of her friends. Barricade flipped the car in anger, and still stomped after them. Looking ahead, he grabbed another car and threw it over their heads, forcing them all to stop and halt in their direction. He had got them to stop.

The six of them slowly backed away, but they couldn't see a way out. He had them cornered. And if they tried to run, he would no doubt catch up to them again. His fist slammed into the side of the destroyed car with anger, and he slammed his other fist down on the ground.

"I wouldn't move," Barricade said, looking up at Dropkick who somehow pulled up behind them. He transformed as well, and looked at them maliciously.

"Can I?"

"No," Barricade said. His fists slammed against the ground again, making them all jump. "I have some questions for you, humans..."

"Please don't hurt friends!" Yona cried, trying to protect Ocellus and Sandbar as best as she could.

"Oh quit your whining. If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it already."

"Just stay away from us, we didn't do anything!"

The Decepticon looked at them, and looked at them with a sly smirk. "You know, when I saw your post on a particular symbol, I thought you were pulling my chain. But not now, uh-uh. You just helped us find a Decepticon traitor. Now..." Barricade kneeled down, getting right up in their faces. His face sent shivers down all of their spines, those blood red eyes glaring into their souls. "Where is Cyberwarp? She's a traitor to Cybertron, and traitors get brought into custody. So... where is she?"

"We don't know what you're talking about!" Ocellus begged.

"Yes, you do!" Barricade's fingers crunched together. "Cyberwarp is here, now where is she!?"

The kids were petrified and speechless. Someone would have said something, but none of them could comprehend the situation right now. And for that matter, these two robots looked too threatening to the point where the only guess they could come up with for why they wanted Cyberwarp was possible torture or death.

"Can I?" Dropkick asked, impatiently. "I think it would make our guests a little more cooperative..."

His gun was active and pointed straight at Ocellus who was quaking in fear.

"Leave her alone!" Smolder said, standing in front of her.

Dropkick quietly chuckled. "You do not realize what this can do... well why don't we make an example out of you."

Now Smolder was scared. The gun was charging up, and she was shaking all over. Sweat ran down her head, not even her friends trying to pull her away was enough to make her calm. She closed her eyes, fearing that her life was about to end at this very moment when--

"Hey!"

Smolder's eyes shot open. Silverstream and Gallus gasped when they heard that voice. Even more so when they saw that same drone looking machine hovering in front of all eight of them like it had been stalking them.

"Leave them alone, Dropkick!"

Barricade quietly chuckled as he loaded his weapon. "Well, well, well. It's been a while, Cyberwarp."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Cyberwarp snarked. "Dropkick, you put one hand on them, I swear to Primus I will melt you down."

"You don't have the guts," Dropkick spat, rotating his gun and pointing it at her this time.

"I will bury you," she growled, her voice sounding almost demonic in that tone.

"All talk and no shock," Barricade cracked his neck. "Why isn't she fighting back?"

"Why don't you fight!?" Dropkick yelled.

"You wanna fight?" Cyberwarp yelled. She was quiet and even though they couldn't see, she was smirking under her hovercraft form. "Then we fight."

The hovercraft started to change. A pair of armored legs unfolded with black heels, The cockpit slid itself down, and the two hovering engines on the side unfolded a pair of arms, freeing two black hands with sharp claws. A head slowly popped out from the cockpit, with a blue helm and black horn in the middle of her head. Her eyes were blue and her skin was light gray (much like her human figure). Her Decepticon mark was still bare for everyone to see, but it was clear from their conversation that she was not like them.

"Now come and fight me like a real Decepticon!" Cyberwarp taunted, her claws clashing together.

The kids were mortified. Gallus and Silverstream were right; she was a robot. There was no denying it now. But wait; she had their attention. If they moved now, they could get away! Anywhere would be better than being in here and being seen!

Realizing that she had them occupied, the kids ran through Dropkick's legs, determined to get away. The Decepticon heard their little feet and watched them run down the open space, heading straight for the outside again.

"Get them! And kill them if you have to," Dropkick snarled.

Barricade smirked and he ran straight after them. He jumped into the air and transformed back into his police escort vehicle mid-jump, slamming back onto his tires to chase them.

Cyberwarp was fearful, but only for a second. With a brave face, she looked at Dropkick and clenched her fists.

"Glit! Eject!"

Dropkick wasn't fazed. "What, are you Soundwave now--"

A part of her chest opened up, and a cassette tape came flying out, slamming into Dropkick's head upon mid-flight. Ignoring him, the tape flipped itself around and transformed into a wolf with a pair of machine guns mounded over it's hind legs. He snarled and roared as he chased after Barricade chasing after the children.

The kids ran down the surprisingly empty street and made a turn down an alleyway. It was small and narrow, no way he could squeeze his way down there. They turned left and then turned right. They were out of sight, at least for the time being. They had to find someplace to hide, farther away from him.

"Where'd he go?" Gallus asked.

And coming straight at them from the alleyway in car form was Barricade, revving his engine as he charged at them. If he couldn't get them out in the open, at the very least he would ram 'em down.

The kids ran yet again, dodging him as he slammed into several trashcans and crates in the process.

"You're not getting away you little brats!"

Still running, they saw Glit running towards them.

"What the heck!?"

"What the!?"

The lion dashed right past the kids and focused on Barricade. The two guns on his hind legs cocked, and they fired nonstop at Barricade's grille. The Decepticon grunted and reversed, trying to avoid being shot from the gunfire. But the lion still shot at him, slowly walking forward, ready to pounce.

Barricade transformed, furious by the attack. Transformed into robot mode, and ran at the wolf, ready to rip him in half. But the animal was ready and started to shoot at his face. He groaned in pain from the fire, and covered himself from the attack. But swatting the lasers wasn't enough, and so Glit jumped up and pounced on him, tackling him to the ground. He tried to bite at his face, but Barricade moved quick enough to avoid getting a piece of his scary face ripped off by his maw.

"You think you stand a chance?" Barricade grunted as he continued to wrestle the Cassette Warrior. "I've picked on fights with Ravage more times than you!"

The kids, seeing their chance to flee, ran for it.

Cyberwarp did her best to take on Dropkick, but she had a difficult time trying to wear him out. It wasn't hard to knock him down, it was just getting him to stay down. Dropkick punched her in the jaw and the stomach, and threw her onto the ground.

Her body was tossed against a couple of abandoned cars, but she still got back up. Dropkick ran at her, and slammed right through the wall with her, taking them outside in the sunlight. Cyberwarp quietly thanked her creator that there was no humans around to see them right now. Slamming a fist against his face and then kicking him in the stomach, she got ready to grab him, but he grabbed her and threw into the air to make her collide with the ground. She however actually prepared for that attack. Rockets ignited under her heels and she flew right at Dropkick, pinning him until the two of them right off the edge of a side and rolled right down a large drainage ditch.

Water flowed through the drainage as both Decepticons got back up.

"Lemme... lemme just ask you something, Dropkick," Cyberwarp growled, stretching her jaw. "Why are you back here?"

"You won't live long enough to know," Dropkick replied.

He loaded his gun and fired multiple shots at her, hitting her shoulders and her chest a few times. She was about to throwdown when Dropkick jumped up and performed a literal dropkick on her and slammed her to the ground. The wind knocked out of her, she was slow in getting up, and it didn't help that Dropkick pounded her face hard that Energon started bleeding. Quickly thinking, she kicked him back, pushing him off for a split second.

Cyberwarp, still on the ground, made her next move. She threw her legs up into the air and kicked Dropkick in the chest and the head. With a quick act, she wrapped her legs around his head, ready for the throwdown. She gripped the ground with her talons and used all of her strength to grab and throw Dropkick up and slam into the ground.

Unfortunately she failed to forget the last time she tried that maneuver because Dropkick simply twirled and twisted until he changed back into his muscle car form and sped towards a small ramp. He drove himself up it and he began to flip and change again. This time all of his parts transformed into a military helicopter which flipped itself right up and loaded with ammo, aimed straight at Cyberwarp.

Cyberwarp's pupils shrunk and her shoulders drooped. "How did I forget he could do that!?"

Dropkick fired multiple shots at Cyberwarp, hailing lasers down onto her body. She covered her head, blocking her face for protection, taking a few mild shots in the arms and legs.

Desperately, she looked around for something, anything she could use for cover, or something to punch him back. Just as Lady Luck had found her, there was a stack of unused steel beams for her to use. Picking one up, she held her grip on it as best she could and tried to swing at him while he was up in the air. Dropkick however taunted her by continuously flying over her

"Where are your little guns, Cyberwarp? Afraid to miss?"

Cyberwarp was growing annoyed. "Ergh, dang it Autobots, why did you have to take my guns!?"

Now it was time to try the least likely option. Throw it at him. Backing up, she held the beam up like a caber, ready to toss. Then with a running speed she threw it high into the air, and THWACK! Knocked Dropkick out of the air and he fell back down.

Standing up, Dropkick loaded his machine guns and shot at Cyberwarp with intense speed. With her balance back, she rolled to the side, dodging the fire. She jumped in the air and avoided another burst. And when she was finally close enough, she round house kicked him again and did a front kick, making the front of her foot hit him in the face.

Dropkick finally dropped, and fell on his back.

"Why don't you fight!?" Cyberwarp yelled, standing up. She stood in a fighting stance, readying her fists. Dropkick was ready to get back up and race--

"Forget her," Barricade said.

Suddenly he appeared from behind Dropkick, bruised and scratched up thanks to Glit's handiwork. And speak of the devil, he dashed down the hill and joined Cyberwarp, standing with her with his weapons ready.

"I can--"

"No. Forget it. She won this one. We'll get her next time," Barricade said. "Come on, she kicked your aft, we better get out of here. Police are already on their way."

The two of them jumped back, transforming back into their car modes and sped off out of the river, leaving her be. She stood there, panting heavily, admittedly exhausted from the fighting. She hadn't done that in a while.

"Glit. Return," she said. Glit converted back into a cassette tape and flew back into the open compartment on Cyberwarp's chest. Quietly, she stepped back out into the empty streets, hoping to go back into hiding to find the kids.

The kids, no longer hearing a sign of fighting or metal bashing together, looked around a corner. No sign of Barricade or the other robot. Seeing the coast was clear, they made their way down the alleyway ready to leave... until they saw the giant metal woman stand before them. Compared to Cyberwarp now, they all felt like insects ready to be stomped on. But her expression and her composure still remained warm and friendly as she sat on her knees to get down closer to them.

"Relax. I just want to talk to you kids."

Needless to say, none of them looked all that happy. "About what? About the fact you've been lying to us the entire time?" Smolder snarked.

"Or about the fact counselor is giant robot?"

"Who even built you anyway?" Sandbar asked.

"No one built me. I wasn't built, I was forged. And I'm definitely not from here on Earth," Cyberwarp said.

The kids stopped.

"... Are you trying to say... you're--"

She nodded.

"... That's awesome!" Silverstream squeed.

"No, not awesome! We almost died!"

"Which is why I never wanted you kids to find out my secret," Cyberwarp said. "Those two guys that tried to go after you? They're terrorists. They hate humans, and they hate me."

"But why are you working as a counselor at our school?" Ocellus asked.

"It's a lot more complicated than that, Ocellus. All of this is."

"Yona thinks counselor never even helped us for real," Yona crossed her arms. "How can friends trust alien robot?"

Cyberwarp understood entirely where they were coming from. After all they did almost get crushed by a psycho.

"You kids have every right not to trust me. But I'm telling you right now, all those times that I helped you with your problems... none of that was fake. I helped you because I wanted to. Helping you kids and looking after the boy I've been hired to do is the best part of my week. And none of that is changing, and I don't want it to change."

The kids exchanged a few glances; Gallus was hesitant, Yona and Smolder still had a hard time trusting her, Sandbar was indifferent, Ocellus and Silverstream were mostly just worried.

"... How did you kids even find out I was a robot?"

The kids heard glass shatter when she asked that question.

"Uhhh..."

"Well..."

"It was kinda obvious. Always smelling like motor oil, the hidden stash of gasoline in your closet and under your desk, you didn't get hurt when you were shot with a bullet..."

Cyberwarp groaned and clawed at her face. "Skyjack told me to get air freshener, why didn't I listen to her...? Well, it doesn't matter. You kids need to go back to campus, and get your homework done, I'll make sure that they don't bother you again. And by the way; you didn't see anything."

She stood back up on her feet, adjusting some switches on her wrist nonchalantly. The students however were appalled at what she said.

"Are you kidding me!? We almost died because of two more robots who can transform into cars, and now we know you're an alien! This isn't something we can ignore!" Ocellus cried.

"We need to know what's going on!" Sandbar said, firmly.

"No, you don't. It's bad enough you six were almost liquified, I'm not about to risk your lives."

"But Cyberwarp, how else are we going to be okay, what if they come back? What if they find us and attack us again? What if they know where we live!? We'll never sleep knowing those two are out there!"

Cyberwarp wanted to ignore Silverstream's statements, but she couldn't. She brought up good points that she couldn't just ignore; they had seen them, and most likely would be searching for them again. And if she said no, they would still be upset; probably even try to blackmail her, knowing everything that happened today.

"You kids want to know the truth?" Cyberwarp asked.

Gallus looked at her with a 'What the hell' expression and nodded quickly. "Yes! That's what we've been trying to know!"

Cyberwarp froze. Thinking for a moment, she sighed and looked at the kids, putting her hands on her hips. "Alright, here's what's gonna happen. You kids want to know the truth? Come down to that beach again, tonight; eight o'clock sharp. There's some bots I want you to meet, they'll explain everything. And quite honestly... I think they'll do a better job protecting you than me. If today has told me anything... I can't look out for you six."

Wait, what?

"What do you mean?"

Cyberwarp tapped a few controls on her wrist. Her entire body shrunk down in size before them, back to the same size that they all remembered her being. "I can't protect you kids from those two. I have enough problems on my own, and I have a family to protect, I can't look after six more. They'll do a better job keeping you safe. I'm sorry."

And like that, she turned around and started walking down the alleyway to her van which was still parked.

"Oh, and one more thing..." she stopped. She only turned her head sideways, still keeping her backside to them. She bent over to adjust the light-bender, which activated once again and turned on the illusion. "If you tell anyone else about me... You're not going to have anything to back it up with."

She stepped into the van, and slammed her door. Turning on the engine, she blared the radio which bled out of the car. She pulled out of the alleyway, without saying another word. The only sound any of them could hear was the tires screeching, and the song she cranked up.

Darling, you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?

And like that, she was driving away. The kids looked at each other, worried about the state of things now. Aliens, alien robots existed. Alien robot terrorists, even worse. And they almost died from them. And if they could easily hide as anything... then who else could have been here living among them? What if there were more alien robots among them? And Cyberwarp did say there was some 'bots' she wanted them to meet, so clearly there was more! But were they good? Were they nice like her, or were they--

"Ahem."

The kids looked back and saw Cyberwarp had pulled back to them, looking hesitant to speak up.

"... Do you kids want a ride back to school, or do you still want to take the bus?"

Elsewhere, in a vast and empty desert, a single red car was driving within the darkness of night. A red car with hints of white on the top of the cabin, sporting whitewall tires; a shiny silver grille with four headlights, and red fins out the backsides of the car. It was a late 50s model, which was certainly a looker to some eyes. No one was driving, and the car had a very small metallic Decepticon logo embedded above the V logo in the grille. Even though the interior of this car was the same old style as the car, there was some modernized tech installed in the middle console, which was projecting a map/tracking system just above the radio buttons.

She swerved off the road and into the desert sands, creating some dust clouds with her. She grinded her tires against the ground until she came to a stop. The engine was still humming idly, all the while the car continued to sit. Then without waiting, the car transformed. Arms unlocked from the sides, and slender red fingers dug into the sand to pull itself up. The front grille and headlights began to change as well, stretching and bending to form a chest. The back of the car transformed into a pair of long skinny but muscular legs.

The robot's back also grew a pair of jet engines and wings which hung out casually. A head unfolded with the rest of the vehicle, revealing a femme with a gray face, a red helm, and a menacing smile. Incredibly skinny and slender, was the partner that Dropkick knew as Shatter.

Reaching behind her, she pulled out a small device; a tracker. She had been driving around, looking for Energon deposits, anything to help her and her 'crew'. Which sadly to say was just her, Dropkick, and Barricade. She could tolerate Dropkick fine, but Barricade was a major pain in her aft a lot of the time. She was just glad to be out here; no one to see her, and she finally got a little bit of quiet time to herself.

Walking further along the sand, she was walking close to the edge of a cliff which looked off into a massive canyon. No Energon to be seen, sadly. But when she looked to the left, she had her optics locked. In front of her, deep in that valley was a crashed, flaming, dark purple and gray war ship. She had never seen this kind of warship in eons, and now here it was right in front of her eyes. Smoldering, in ruins, and crashed.

She jumped off the ledge she stood on and flipped into an alternate form; a red and gray military jet. Zooming down, she flew to the vessel and transformed back into her robot mode, surveying the scene in front of her. Thankfully there were no humans around or witnesses or anything. But this? This was something else.

Shatter took two steps forward, barely flinching at a piece of metal that fell off from the side of the ship. There was a hole big enough for her to walk through, the door to go inside; but it had been bashed in, like someone was trying to get inside.

The lights on her chest activated, allowing her to see inside the darker than normal hall. Barely any lights were on, not even emergency lights were active. That however was the least of her problems; the actual inside of the ship was worse than the outside. Pieces of machinery were strewn about, as if they were ripped out of the walls or shot at. It was like a battle had gone in here.

But when she went around the corner of the hall, it was worse. Bodies. All strewn about on the ground. Decepticon bodies. She flashed her lights down towards the deceased, looking to see who had fallen. Mostly were trooper type bodies, a lot of generics as far as she could see. But one of them stood out just a bit. A Seeker body she could see, laid limp.

She flipped him over on his back, getting a good look at the front. “Laser round to the spark chamber… he didn’t die in the crash.”

And another body was found in the midst of all the corpses. Same as before. "Decepticons! Sound off, is there anyone online?"

No reply.

"Shockwave? Soundwave? Thundercracker? Scrapper? Anyone?"

When she stumbled into the main control center, she saw most of the same. More rubble, more dead Decepticons. A few more Vehicons and Seekers, a few various warriors in between. But when she walked to the main control panel, she found some pieces weren’t as destroyed as everything else. Maybe she could patch it up?

Kneeing down, she reconnected some coils and fuses, hoping that this would get the power back on. And a single spark exploded in her face just before a soft hum of energy emitted. Looking to one of the monitors, she began searching the files. Transmissions were previously used, it seems.

She pressed a button, and she could hear audio files play back before her.

“Megatron, we are being boarded. He is coming for you.”

“Allow him to face me. I will finish him myself. Get yourself out of there, Soundwave."

“As you command, Lord Megatron.”

Shatter hit the pause button.

“Hmm… curiouser, and curiouser…”

Shatter backed off from the panel and shined her lights some more. A few sparks fizzed from dangling coils, which were the only sounds she could hear inside outside of her footsteps.

“Wildbreak…” She said, eyeing another killed Decepticon. “Well. I suppose one less annoying Decepticon around is better. We already have Barricade. Hmm… wait a minute. You were a Stunticon. But if you’re here… then where is Motormaster?”

She shined her lights some more, hoping to find Motormaster, someone, anyone still online. Some more destroyed panels, more corpses, recognizing a few fallen comrades as well; Spittor, Junkheap, a few other lower-class Cons. But the sudden shift in metal alerted her auditory sensors, forcing her to jolt back around with a loaded weapon. Someone was on the ground, still moving. A Vehicon!

She walked over to him, hearing some moans coming from the wounded soldier.

“Can you move?”

The Vehicon coughed before laying his head back. “He… He’s back.”

“Who? Who’s back?”

"T... T... Ta..."

The Vehicon didn't finish his words, before he slowly shut down and died in front of her. Shatter groaned in frustration, who was this attacker?

A loud groan caught Shatter’s audio receptors, and she looked around to see who it was. When she stepped into another part of the bridge, she found the source; a Decepticon who was still online, hurt, covered in bruises and stab wounds. And she didn't need to be told who it was. He was hulking gray, with a fusion cannon attached to his right arm, and a face that would send terror down the spines of anyone who faced him.

“Lord Megatron,” Shatter gasped.

A pair of blood red eyes slowly opened, trying to gaze back towards at the voice who was calling to him. “Who dares to call to me?”

“Lord Megatron, it is me, Shatter,” She called again. She couldn’t believe her eyes. He was still online!

Wearily, his optics looked up to see the red slender body belonging to a familiar warrior he knew so long ago.

“Shatter,” Megatron hacked up blood. “This is quite an unexpected turn. I thought you perished on Cybertron…”

“Your reports of my death were greatly premature, my liege. But what has happened to you? Who attacked you? What is the Nemesis doing here?”

Megatron groaned as he pulled himself up, trying not to stumble. “A traitor. One who wears the Decepticon badge is the culprit of this attack.”

"Who? Is it Starscream?"

"No, surprisingly, it is not. But it is a Cybertronian I have never seen before," Megatron groaned, pulling himself up. "Now you. How did you wind up here on this planet?"

Shatter, taking a knee down, spoke. "Dropkick and I were doing a hunt for Autobots, and we thought we had found an Energon deposit. But we soon found out the Autobots were using it as bait, and so we were locked into stasis pods. I don't remember what had happened, but when I woke from stasis, I found my partner and I had crashlanded here on this underwhelming planet. We set up camp with a few other freed Decepticons and we had plotted ourselves a little revenge to get back at the Autobots."

She sighed momentarily.

"Unfortunately, the Autobots had gotten the upper hand on us. There are armies of them scattered across this continent. Without much choice, Dropkick, Barricade and I had to run. Currently my two comrades are searching for Energon out west, while I agreed to patrol up north. That's when I found this ship, and therefore, you."

"Where are they now?" Megatron asked.

"My subordinates are not too far from here. We've established a base inside of an abandoned mine; the mineral deposits shield us from detection. With the masses of Autobots scattered on this continent, and our lack of numbers, we believed it would have been safer for us to remain hidden for the time being," Shatter explained.

"Very well. It will do. Lead me back to our base of operations," Megatron ordered, slowly getting his feet to move again.

"Yes, my liege," Shatter nodded, leading the way.

"And one more thing, Shatter?"

She looked back at him. "Yes, my liege?"

Megatron was expressionless, but still looked at her. "Congratulations. You are now my second-in-command."