Dirty Work
Scheol, Monicus.
Earth date: August 12 1989

She had travelled from planet to planetoid to asteroid in search of employment. Work had been scarce during the past few years and competition for what was available had been very high.

The road ahead of her was strewn with litter, and the occasional dead animal. A large rat-like creature scurried out of her way as she made her way down the middle of the street. She was headed toward the arena in the middle of the city.

Scheol was known as a very unpleasant place, dark people lived and worked here. Drifters, thieves, mercenaries, low lives and other louts thrived in the streets and frequented the establishments.

Gambling houses opened onto the road; their bright signs blinking in promise of grand winnings. Bars and pubs squished between each of the huge casinos. They were filled with chatter; people who had won and were drinking in celebration.

Other more dubious establishments, with bright marquees displaying images of dancing females opened their doors onto the street. Aliens from many worlds gathered to watch lithe females dancing suggestively to sleazy music. She could hear the shouts of lewd comments and the whistles of males laughing at the alien women.

She cringed outwardly, organic creatures had such disgusting displays, habits and methods of obtaining companionship. Behind these, places she knew, were houses of ill repute; who catered to the needs of the patrons of Scheol. Quickly she walked on ignoring the comments and stares of the flesh and mechanical creatures around her.

She carried on past street vendors who were selling items at very low prices. Many tried to entice her into parting with her few credit chips on worthless items what were guaranteed to break down minutes after purchase. One of the other big businesses that she noticed in this dark district were pawn shops, they all displayed signs reading: "Best prices in Scheol for all your goods."

A forlorn voice cried out from one of the dark allies, a voice of one who had lost everything. The loud sob was quickly followed by a gunshot report that reached her audios. She chose not to investigate nor did she even turn her head toward the sound; she remained cold and impassive. Suicides were a commonplace occurrence within this type of city.

She glanced down at the business card that she had poking between her fingers. "Come to Monicus, where your dreams come true." She laughed coldly shaking her head with a dark sort of amusement, thinking about the person who lay dead or dying in the ally she had passed. Was it in his dreams to die in such a manner? She flipped the card over with her thumb and read the scrawled note on the back.

"You'll find a man offering a job down Gyconi road, at the end of an alleyway between Solid Gold Tavern and Darkrock Castle Casino."

She scowled as she glanced around the street. People crossed the road, chattering boisterously amongst themselves. A loud shout caught her attention just off her right. She turned her head to witness a large alien throwing two very drunk patrons into the street. They shouted curses at the burly bouncer and then they turned on each other and began to fight. A small crowd gathered to watch the combatants, betting amongst themselves on who would come out alive.

At the end of the street was Lord Gyconi's Pit of Destruction. She could hear the drone of many voices cheering on the combatants within. Gladiatorial sports did not interest her, she considered it barbaric and uninteresting.

The Seeker paused for a moment at a poorly lit alleyway between a casino and a noisy tavern clearly named Solid Gold. She looked closely at the Casino's sign. It had an image of a black castle siting on a cliff face. The writing below it was in a language that was foreign to her. She glanced once more at the card in her hand, the alley was a dead end and it appeared in the poor light to have a door at the end.

She quickened her pace and walked to the end of the alley where she came to a huge battered, corroded metal door with a closed metal window. The door hung on huge hinges that were a touch too ornate for the overall deteriorated appearance of the door itself. The area around the door handle was thick with a grimy build up.

She looked about at the broken crates and assorted rubble then back to the door. It was crud encrusted. Cringing in distaste, she knocked on the filthy door with her orange knuckles. The was silence for a moment before the window slid open, a laser pistol was poked through and a pair of eyes glistened in the darkness.

"What do you want?" a husky voice hissed at her through the window.

"I am looking for a job," she said to the alien, "I understand you are looking to hire a transformer?" she said in a low voice.

"Err, I am, but we don't need any more females," the voice gravelled and coughed a couple times, "we're all full up, try another time." The window started to close and Sunburst caught the corner of it before it shut completely.

"No wait! I hear you have a difficult job available, I am a bounty hunter," she responded disgusted in the suggestion of the filthy grizzled voice. She thrust the business card through the opening in the window.

A grimy, thick nailed thumb and forefinger plucked the card from her hand. She could hear the low mutter as the creature on the other end read the writing followed by some noisy throat clearing.

"Ah, yes, that I do. I'm sorry to offend," the creature apologised in a harsh tone, "please come in, we can talk business." The metal window shut with the sound of bolts being unlatched. With a creak the door swung open and filth from the top rained down on the ground. Insects scurried up the wall into dark crevices.

The Seeker stepped into the raunchy room, It appeared to be an office or a home or perhaps both. The man seemed to be somewhat of a hermit, filthy cooking pots were piled in an area that could be described as the nastiest kitchen she had ever seen. A pair of green glowing eyes peered at her through a partially opened cupboard then disappeared. The corners of the room were thick with cobwebs.

Her attention was drawn back to the creature who had let her in by his fit of coughing. He abruptly made a horrible growling noise as he turned his head and spat into a stinking pot on the floor. It did not surprise her at all that he seemed very unhealthy, judging by his living conditions.

She wondered for a moment if it would be better to leave than to stick around and find out what this poor excuse for a life form had to offer. He surely had no method to pay her for doing the job but she herself was in desperate need for work and he seemed to be the only one willing to talk to her.

The alien creature lit a couple lamps on the desk as he sat down. He dug through a pile of papers and datapads that were scattered across his desk, muttering a long string of curses in a foreign language as he dug through drawers until he found what he was looking for. He opened up a green folder and started to read quietly to himself.

She wished he had not illuminated the space, it only made the place look more foreboding. The alien's features were even more noticeable now with the light. The alien was short and quite fat, his face was dark brown, she was unsure whether or not this was natural colouration or from the filth of his habitation.

His long black hair was surprisingly well brushed, although it was very greasy and slicked back and tied at the neck, giving his round, highly wrinkled face a stern expression. He looked at her through narrow black-brown eyes that were almost hidden by the thick eyebrows.

His ragged, red woollen clothing hung down to his feet making him seem even more squat.

The creature made more ghastly noises as he cleared his throat, turning his head once again to spit into the pot on the floor. "I'm Mugabe," he said smiling, displaying a mouth full of blackened teeth, "might I ask you who you are?"

The pale gold Seeker tried not to outwardly display her feeling of revulsion. There was no excuse for any life form to allow himself to become like this. She allowed herself to focus on the bright green folder that rested on his desk, it was the only thing that appeared to be new and "clean" save the greasy fingerprints that were now left on the clean white sheets of paper. "I'd rather not reveal my name at this point in time," she replied coolly, "do you have employment for me or not?"

"And yes, I have a job, in the Sol system two light years away from here," the alien was overcome by wracking coughs, "I can't give you all the details that you need so you'll have to speak to the mech who is ordering this particular hit. I am permitted to say it is someone of high rank and power." He looked her up and down taking into consideration her weapons and stance. "What are your qualifications, then, Seeker?" he asked straightening up in his chair, folding his hands on the top of his desk.

Her optics flashed bright for a split second. "I've been working as a bounty hunter/mercenary for over fifty millennia all over the galaxy. I am competent in my job and I am very successful. I will get my target or targets," she replied.

"That was not my question, I am referring to special abilities, weapons, skills, schooling. Those will determine to me whether or not I'll give you the file," the dark creature snarled.

She glanced around the filthy room nervously, this place did not put her at ease to answer prying questions, she exhaled windily. "I wear two plasma/laser rifles on my arms I am equipped with a secondary plasma pistol and in my alter-mode I have cluster bombs, guided missiles and I can carry nuclear tipped warheads on those missiles. As for back up defensive weapons, I have what they call the sunburst and chaff. They are used for eliminating heat and radar guided weaponry. As for special abilities, I am capable of stealth; I can suppress radar scans and my infrared emissions and for schooling; I graduated from the Cybertron War Academy about nine million years ago."

"Decepticon warrior, then, you were? Interesting, how is it that you are no longer in the service?" he inquired pointing out her lack of insignia with a grubby finger.

"Why I'm no longer with the Decepticon force is my business and not yours. Now I've told what you've asked for, will you give me the job?" she asked with a demanding edge.

"Hmm,"The grizzled man muttered thoughtfully, "How fast can you fly?" he inquired, "It is a Seeker that is preferred for the job," he said looking her up and down.

"I'm fast enough," she said sharply, "I take flight would be a potential part of my employment?"

Mugabe glanced over his papers, snorted and spat an unwholesome wad into his spittoon. "Ah, yes, it's a possibility but not necessarily," he shrugged glancing at one of the pages. "One last question before I decide, what is your price to do business?"

"My price? Two-hundred energon cubes is my standard cost, it covers, fuel, equipment, lodging if required and not a cube less." She nodded her head at the filthy creature who sat at the desk.

He made a little frown, "Two hundred energon cubes is quite the price, however, I don't think you will be displeased with what the set payment is," he thumbed to the last page, "eight hundred energon cubes. As I have said, it's a big job."

She looked at the short grizzled creature her optics flashing in surprise; what a payment. "Eight hundred? Who the slag is my hit? Primus himself?" she asked rhetorically.

"Primus? I don't know his name." He paused to look at her for a moment, "I like you Seeker, you seem feisty and strong willed, I'll give you the papers for the job." He picked a grimy pen off his table and wrote down something on the paper smearing it with his hand in the process. After which he gathered up the file and folded it shut.

"This contains all necessary information about where you are to meet the employer, he wishes to remain anonymous at this time, like you. You are to be there in two weeks, exact date and time and location are outlined in this file, only then will you be informed whether or not you have the job and only then you'll get the of the name of your target." He handed the green file over to the Seeker, "be there on time, he does not like being kept waiting." Mugabe stood up from his desk and shuffled noisily to the door, he pushed it open and allowed the Seeker out.

She quickly walked away from the hovel, not looking back. She had never been anywhere so unsanitary as that place. The Seeker quickly glanced down at the file in her hand, cringing in disgust at what sort of filth it had come in contact with, she shuddered as her circuits crawled with what she had hoped were imagined pests.

Murphy's law
Tharis Plateau, Mars
Earth date: August 27th 1989

"Entering the Sol system." came the soft voice in the dimness of the room.

The Seeker brought her optics on-line and sat up eagerly. She had been waiting for those words for two days. "It's about fragging time you piece of scrap," The yellow Seeker cursed at the computer as she stumbled out of her recharge chamber and into the pilots seat.

"Powering down sub-light engines and activating manoeuvring thrusters," said the computer's voice. The ship slowed as the forward thrusters fired to break their momentum. She glanced out the port windows to see the huge gas planet.

In the distance the small red dot grew until it filled her entire field of view. The red planet, as it was often called, rotated lazily in space. She streaked past the pair of irregular shaped moons as she entered the atmosphere of the red hued globe. The sereneness of the world was shattered as the guidance monitors abruptly blanked out and the control panel lit up with several red warning beacons.

The Seeker held her hands up to her head to cover her audio's as the shrill scream of the warning siren activated. "Don't you..." she started.

"Warning guidance system failure: Entering atmosphere at present rate of speed could result in shuttle disintegration," the computer informed in a pleasant voice, "manual override is recommended."

The Computer's voice often soothed and calmed her when she travelled long distances between star systems, giving her a feeling that she was not completely alone or confined in a tiny ship in the black velvet of space. It never yelled it's warnings, it never insulted her, sometimes it's comments resembled back talk. But she knew it was doing as it was designed to do; to give immediate, accurate responses and advice to conditions, questions and situations and nothing more.

The voice was smooth and neutral, but she thought of it as female. However now she thought the calmness of the ship's tone felt surreal in the situation that she knew wasn't going to be good.

The Seeker shot a heated glare at the blackened monitor. "Slag don't do this to me now!" she cursed as she turned the auto pilot off and struggled to hang onto the steering column. The Seeker's battered shuttle shook as it destabilised upon entering the Martian atmosphere.

"Come on you old beast, land me safely—please!" she urged the craft on while trying to remedy the guidance system problems and maintain control of the rapidly dropping ship. Several of the panel's lights turned orange and the siren ceased it's irritating blare. "Yes, yes! That's it! You can do it!" she crowed.

She glanced down at the guidance system monitor that had just come back on-line. It had traced her trajectory from where it had shut down. If her aim was correct, she was going to land in the Tharis Plateau.

She stared ahead out the window. Thin pinkish clouds sped past her craft at a high rate of speed. The Seeker poked at the two remaining red buttons that controlled her breaking systems and landing systems, they refused to come back on-line.

"You, bot fragging son of a...," she cursed as the shuttle jerked abruptly and a new set of beacons informed her that all was not well.

"Starboard engine failure: Compensating with aft thrusters." The computer informed as the right engine ceased to function. She cast a worried look over her right shoulder at what she could see of the shuttle's wing.

Smoke issued from what appeared to her as a plasma fire. The wing that the engine was attached to would now need intensive repair.

The engine failure shifted her slightly off course and she understood that she would end up stopping a several kilometres off her targeted landing site. Snarling in frustration she guided the ancient craft down with it's nose up in order to slow the speed without the antigravity buffers.

"Shields up!" she shouted at the control panel hitting one of the few green glowing buttons left. Safety straps automatically snaked out from her seat and strapped her in. She shuddered at the feeling of being restrained.

"Shuttle shields are at maximum power," the onboard computer replied to her relief. Despite that, she did not want to keep her hopes up too high. The Seeker did not want to think about the possibilities of it's failure. She knew the one out come: Death. If the generators failed as her craft collided with the with the ground. She and her ship would be thrown across the planet and ripped to shreds.

The ground closed in quickly and as she made adjustments for the lack of engine and landing gear. She held her breath, pressing herself as far back into the seat as she could get. Her hands were clamped tight to the control column, a reaction to fear and impending doom. The shuttle hit the ground with a screech of rocks against metal. The Seeker off-lined her optics.

The Shuttled rocked violently, jerking her in her seat. The restraining straps locked and held her fast.

"Shields are holding at seventy five percent power," the computer informed in a calm voice.

She cringed and tensed up further as the squealing shuttle gouged out a path fifty kilometres long in the Martian surface.

"Shields are holding at thirty-three percent power."

The Seeker quickly glanced at the monitors."Yes, I can see that!" she said with a shriek as the ship bounced off a jutting rock causing it to spin as it surged forward.

"imminent shield generator failure in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven," the computer counted almost cheerfully.

The words chilled her fuel lines. The Seeker wondered for a split second if the ship was exacting it's revenge on her for all the aeons of insults and neglect. 'I'm going down and there's nothing you can do to stop me; enjoy the ride.'

"Oh, Primus, no! Come on you can do it!" she urged, glancing at now completely red panel.

The ship ignored her and continued with the countdown. "Six. Five. Four..."

The ship vibrated violently in huge bounces and shudders as it scraped along the ground.

"Three. Two. One. The shield generator is now off-line."

The Seeker thought that the computer was almost smug in that announcement as the shields collapsed. And she half expected the words, 'have a good day,' to follow. She cried out as the unprotected ship screamed and groaned with the scrape of metal against rock while huge chunks of plating tore free of the hull.

"Brace for impact," she warned herself as curled into a crash position.

It continued on screeching it's route until it finally came to rest in an open rocky plain.

The silence was almost deafening for a few moments until the echoing groan and clank of something fell free of the shuttle and hit the ground. The computer quietly buzzed and red beacons flashed.

"Hooo," she exhaled windily, "we made it." She listened to a new sound, a faint rapid hammering. It took her a few moments to realise that it was her own fuel pump working on overdrive in reaction to the whole ordeal.

She sat in silence feeling more than shaky about the rough landing. "Computer, damage report," the Seeker demanded.

"Shields absorbed eighty-five percent of impact, damage is minimal to underside of shuttle craft, breached cargo area. Starboard engines are off-line, antigravity buffers are off-line, shield generators are off-line..." The computer displayed a schematic of the ship highlighting all the damaged areas as it pointed out new area's of concern.

"I'm never going to get off this rock," the Seeker groaned as she sat back in her chair head shaking in dismay. She flicked the monitor off and hoped that she had enough supplies surviving, in her cargo hold, to attempt repairs. The punched up the rear display and viewed the gouged out ground and scattered chunks of twisted with mute admiration and disgust.

"It could've been a lot worst," she said to herself, knowing that she could have died if the shields had given out any earlier. "A lot worse."

She quickly turned her attention to the guidance display. She was four kilometres out from her preferred landing site, which was not bad. She knew she would have to walk or fly to where she was to meet her client.

"Wonderful," she sighed standing up, "Computer activate the global positioning system beacon."

The shuttle fired a small rocket into the atmosphere, the rocket split apart and ejected a tiny satellite into geosynchronous obit with Mars . The satellite rotated and sent a signal back to the ship where it was processed by the central computer.

Her satellite would not help her much on the other side of the planet but for now all she needed was the local area.

It then made a quick radar sweep of the visible surface and sent the information back and compared it to her guidance system. The original trajectory shifted and she discovered she was twelve kilometres off course.

She rapped the console sharply with her knuckles in irritation and turned quickly to her recharge chamber in the middle of the shuttle.

The room was small with no windows and lots of shelves that were void of her possessions. Her optics fell to the floor as something brittle crunched underfoot. The Seeker sighed as she nudged her things out of her way with the tip of her foot.

The Seeker opened a grey metal door that lined the forward wall and removed her weapons, the file that Mugabe had given her in Scheol and the G.P.S. signal receiver. She would be packing light and did not have a whole lot of time to prepare.

She turned and stepped a few metres from her cramped quarters to the shuttle door. "Computer power down all non essential systems, I'll be back to repair you soon," she said as she patted the wall of the craft affectionately. The interior of the ship darkened leaving a few red emergency lights here and there on and a flashing blue beacon of her G.P.S.

Walking around her shuttle she realised that she should have fixed it on Monicus. The failures would not have happened then. It was still repairable, but it was going to cause a major setback, both financially and with time. The Seeker hoped there would be no time constraint on when she had to do her job.

Without further ado she began her trek west.

Phobos and Deimos
Tharis Plateau, Mars
Earth date: August 27th 1989

The Seeker mercenary walked over the rugged Martian terrain, in the Tharsis region, the massive bulk of Olympus Mons towered in the distance. Not far from her right she spotted a cliff that had several large boulders scattered around the base. She looked down at her Global Positioning System co-ordinates on her hand scanner. The resultant information informed her that she would find the person she was looking for over by those rocks.

Only two weeks earlier she had taken the job from a very sleazy man in Scheol, from there she had spent some time downloading Decepticon archives from Cybertron and discovered that Mars was in the same star system that the Elite Decepticon force had crash landed on four million years earlier.

What information she could gather stated that only five years before, contact had been re-established, by Shockwave, with Megatron and his troops on Earth.

She was posted on the other side of the galaxy when the news that Megatron and a portion of his battle force went down on a remote planet and were presumed dead. The reports also suggested that the Autobots had taken a crippling blow by also losing their leader. There was hope that the war was going to end easily, but it still continued on with out losing steam.

She had attempted to further her research, but she was unable to locate more detailed information as to who else was 'lost' along with Megatron on that distant world. With little luck in digging up recent information she scanned for radio waves as she had approached the inner orbits of planets. She had learned that the Earth was an inhabited world by a primitive specie of Primate Mammal that had mastered technology that was capable of sending information via radio. All she had learned from the simple transmissions was that the ongoing battle between the Decepticons and Autobots had stagnated.

She had to wonder if this job had something to do with the group of Decepticons, the Earth world, and the stalemate that had become of their war. She wondered why the Decepticons remained on that world, there had to be something valuable that they wanted, if they were so loathe to leave it.

She glanced about herself again. Mars was a strange planet it's thin carbon dioxide atmosphere was red tinged and full of dust causing the weak light, from the distant star, to appear very hazy. She walked with great easy strides; the gravity of the alien world was very weak. The thinness of the atmosphere coupled with the low gravity caused her problems landing. And times being what they were, she did not have the credits available to repair the planetary landing systems.

Again she cursed her shuttle and herself for not repairing it when the problems were much smaller.

Over head she could see the two Martian satellites Phobos and Deimos. They appeared to be more like a pair of captured asteroids than actual moons. Their surfaces were irregular and barely rounded in the manner that was standard for most planetary companions. She had pulled up a couple of files from the Decepticon database regarding the red world. It had appeared the Primates of Earth had named it after one of their ancient gods, Mars, the Bringer of war. The moons were each named after his assistants, Phobos, fear and Deimos, panic.

She frowned at the thought of the alien mythos, it was interesting but the other information she had gathered on Mars was more useful to her, atmospheric pressures, escape velocities, surface temperature extremes. At least she knew what to expect.

She walked on closing in on the boulders at the base of the cliff.

She paused to look behind her, the gently rolling rugged landscape scattered with yellowish-brown or red rocks. She could no longer see her shuttle craft; it was coated in a layer of red Martian soil causing it to blend in well with the local terrain. She gazed at some larger rock formations that jutted from the surface of the plateau. They were eroded by the constant blast of wind and fine sand.

She considered transformation and flying to rendezvous with her client but the amount of dust in the atmosphere reaffirmed her decision to remain in her mech mode. She feared clogging her own engines and stalling. Being in one crash was enough for a day.

The reddish-brown sand drifted and swirled across the surface, collecting in dunes behind rocks or out in the open. She glanced down to watch as the wind swept away her finely detailed foot prints erasing all evidence of her path toward the boulders.

She was on an alien planet that did not have any aliens, suddenly the Seeker felt alone, abandoned, fearful. She hated to be so alone, realising that she was on a world far removed from any real civilised portion of space The Decepticons were on Earth but that seemed like a world so far away. Why did the meeting have to be on this world? Why not Earth? She sighed heavily as she turned back to the cliff that loomed closer.

Her feet crunched nosily across the stoney ground the dust here was quite thin, most of it had gathered in a dune leaving the ground barren as she neared the rocky outcrop. There should be a cave three degrees west from where she stood. She thought as she stopped; glancing around at the dead planet once again.

She had her reservations about this hit and hoped that this job was worth the effort she put in getting here. Who was she kidding, she thought, it was promised that her usual charge of two hundred energon cubes per job would be quadrupled for this particular mission, eight hundred energon cubes in total. That was no small gain, the job would be worth it regardless. All she knew was that she was to kill someone who, when where and how still remained the question.

The how was easy, she preferred sniper style assassination jobs. They could be done at a distance and she could remain emotionally detached from the proceedings. Nothing was worse then becoming sympathetic to the victim. She had to remind herself on a few occasions that there had to be a valid reason for each of them to die. She did not think that someone would go through the effort to locate, hire and pay for an assassin if the reason was petty. And if it were, she would still do it, energon was energon.

Eight hundred energon cubes, whoever it was had to have committed an unforgivable crime.

Other jobs she hired herself out for were more of information collecting, espionage, simple weapons trade, supplies and the occasional fuel run. She sold her services to whoever can afford her charge. It was not always energon she needed, she once had a sizeable stash hidden away, sometimes she needed weapons, parts, tools and other things necessary for solitary survival.

She had no place she called a permanent home. Her search for work constantly moved her from planet to planet, system to system. Her shuttle or rented rooms provided the simple accommodations that she needed. She had very few friends and everyone else was considered her enemy, Autobots, Decepticons and even Neutrals. All guilty until proven innocent.

Her red optics squinted in the strange reddish light as she attempted to make out the dark smudge in between a group of boulders at the base of a cliff. She paused to look down at her GPS yes this was the cave. she wondered who her hit would be it had to be someone big or perhaps dangerous; if they were to offer such an exorbitant payment for the job.

Into the Dark
Tharis Plateau, Mars
Earth date: August 27th 1989

She walked into the dark cave feeling slightly uneasy about the closeness of the rough rock wall. She paused for a moment before proceeding. She made her way along with cautious and deliberate steps as she was worried that there might be a sudden drop down into a pit. She cursed herself for not bringing along a lantern but she remembered faintly that the batteries had run out shortly after she left Monicus.

The Seeker contemplated flying but the tightness of the cavern would make that sort of activity dangerous. She walked on in silence for several meters, wings swept slightly back, brushing her hand against the wall, feeling for sudden changes in direction. Her feet moved slowly across the ground kicking stones ahead of her in an attempt to determine possible hazards. The cavern wound its way deep into the cliff and slightly down.

The further she went the darker it became. With the blackness came a very chill draft and the sounds of her tread echoed faintly. Her foot kicked a rock and it clattered noisily away, judging from the echo it made she determined she had entered a very large cavern. She glanced back the way she came. Blackness of the cavern surrounded her, strangling her. Tightness, enclosed, fear, escape, danger! Her mind wildly thought as she attempted to push back the feelings of anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her thoughts.

Her wings twitched anxiously as the wind howled noisily as it blew past the cave's mouth. She shivered with worry as she looked around in the blinding blackness. She clenched and unclenched her hands taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. One question puzzled her mind, if the person wanted a Seeker, why was he asking them to meet in the deep dark underground of a cave on a remote planet? Don't they know that Seekers are inherently claustrophobic?

"Who is approaching?" asked a gravely voice which sounded thin as it echoed off all the walls around her.

She cocked her head slightly to try to pinpoint the source of the vaguely familiar voice. Unable to do so, she nervously stepped forward into the black nothingness. "I am here for a job," she responded loudly. Her voice did not seem carry very far in the thin frigid air of the Martian cavern. She inhaled deeply and waited for a moment.

There was a long pause before the questioning voice responded. "A female Seeker?" he asked from the darkness. The tone of the voice was incredulous as if he could not believe what he had just heard. "Ask for a Seeker and I expected a Seeker but I did not realise it would be a female," the tone was of obvious disgust and the last word was pronounced as if it were a a high insult . "I thought Mugabe was only joking," he half muttered to himself.

She felt a surge of hurt and fury flow through her fuel lines as she glared into the darkness trying to see who she was talking too. Her optics flashed briefly and her wings flared up aggressively. The feeling of anger pushed the anxiety to the back of her mind where it resumed its growth. "I can do my job well enough or I would not have lasted this long in my field," she replied with a snap to the disembodied voice.

Work as a mercenary or bounty hunter was often wrought with difficulties. Along with the frequent and often long absences of work. There was strong competition for the work that was available. There were many bounty hunters, Decepticon, Autobot, Neutral. Those varied in skill from outstanding to mediocre. Her own skills were on the better side of good but that did not mean much to prospective clients. Many times she was turned down for a job due to various factors, some related to her technical specifications, others related to her alt-mode design being unsuitable to the task and some still to the presumed inability as a female.

The cavern echoed with a malicious laughter that continued for a few moments before dying down. "Now that's not the tone you would use to address me, Decepticon," the voice answered full of loathing and irritation.

She exhaled windily, "I am not a Decepticon," she replied in a tone of apology, feeling very uneasy about this employer. The voice rang a bell but she could not place it. It had a familiar grizzly softness about it.

"Are you an Autobot then? I don't like to make deals with Autobots," said the voice. The tone became suspicious and slightly prying.

The Seeker heard the whine of a weapon as it was being charged up in the darkness. "N-no, I'm neutral. I currently have no affiliation," her voice was slightly edged with fear. She realised that she was in a dark enclosed cavern and someone in the other end had a very large, and likely, very powerful weapon trained on her approximate position. She glanced behind herself and wondered where the entrance of the cavern was. Would she be able to find her way out or would she be lost in these dark depths forever. She inhaled deeply and took a step back.

"Interesting," returned the voice breaking again the long contemplative silence that followed her response. A dim blue light briefly glowed before it was turned off once more. "And yet you were in the War Academy and therefore you were a Decepticon. One fallen out of grace perhaps," he mused. "That happens a lot amongst your kind."

The Seeker made no response to what she thought was deliberate baiting. She could hear the sound of heavy feet moving against rough ground growing nearer. Red coals of glowing optics brightened in the darkness and she can see the dimly lit outline of a pale silver face. She was still unsure with who she was dealing with.

"I trust that you are competent in your work," the optics flashed. "However, you need to be better than competent, your target is tricky, quick, manipulative." The face with the burning red optics did not step closer. She could see a lavender glow from the muzzle of a very large weapon that hung near the mech's right hand.

She inhaled slowly before she chose her words. "Are you asking me to get close to this target?" she inquired with distaste. "You likely do not know but I prefer doing assassinations at a distance," she said in a matter-of-fact manner. "You know the sort, go in, set up, shoot, remove head, leave and take payment." she said casually.

"I am not asking you to befriend the target, Seeker. Primus only knows what goes on in his thick head. He's given me plenty of trouble in recent years and I wish to be done with him." The purple glow swept in front of the dark mech as he gestured an abrupt dismissal with the right hand.

The voice, weapon and mannerisms were familiar, her mind attempted to put the pieces together, no it was not likely.

She peered intently at the ruby optics. "Why is it that you cannot take out the target yourself? You seem strong enough and who are you?" She was tiring of the shrouded conversation.

"I could take him out if I wanted to, but I would prefer him to die thinking that he was taken out by a lowly Autobot," the voice chuckled malevolently and she felt a prickly chill flow down her lines once more. "As for who am I, I suppose I can reveal myself to you," he paused for a moment. "But, before I do, will you take the job?" he asked teasingly.

"Yes, but I still want more information on my target, who is he that I am supposed to kill?" she asked crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

"In just a moment," the voice responded. A shuffling sound came from the dark followed by a creaking. Then there was a loud snap followed by a fizzling hiss then a flash of bright white light from a flare. Blinded for a moment she shrouded her optics with her hand, allowing them to adjust to the sudden brightness for a moment. Before her, in the red cavern, stood Megatron, the leader of the Decepticon force.

"Megatron!" she said in awe and slight fear. "I thought for a moment you were my target."

His face was illuminated by the brilliant white light. It stood out in the dark like a glowing light he smiled broadly and glanced at the flares. He paused for a brief moment before he threw the two halves of the flare into separate areas of the cave.

The cavern became unnaturally bright. Never in its existence has light so bright lit its interior. Every detail in the Martian rock was exposed. Lines of strata was evident. Once upon a time, long ago there had to be some form of life on this world, plant life if not animal. Small quartz crystals scintillated in the flicking glow of the flare. The Seeker glanced over he shoulder for a moment and fixed her position in relation to the exit.

The huge Decepticon leader's mouth turned into a sharp downward scowl. "It takes more than a lowly Seeker drone to kill me," he said somewhat bitterly. "No, your target is my Sub Commander," he stated with very little emotion.

"Who? Shockwave?" she asked puzzled. It couldn't be... she thought.

"You don't know? Are you stupid?" he asked in amazement. "You're a Seeker; I thought all Seekers knew who the Sub Commander of the Decepticon Battle fleet is." he shook his head in disbelief and muttered a few derogatory comments that she was unable to understand

"I spend most of my time all over this galaxy for various jobs. It's been about fifty thousand years since I was even close to Cybertron and I've never been in this system before. So I am not quite up to date on the news in this sector. No, I am afraid I don't know who he is. Please stop toying me with guessing games and tell me who the heck it is I am to kill," she said harshly. Her wings flicked as she spoke. She wondered for a moment if she was, perhaps, a little too harsh for the mech who stood in front of her.

"I am very surprised in you, no matter," he waved his hand with a dismissive flick. "the target is..." Megatron shrugged then chuckled, his smile became became broad and malicious, "...none other than the nuisance of an Air Commander, Starscream."

The yellow Seeker's optics widened in surprise at the announcement of the name. She knew that he could go far but to become the Air Commander? She was lost for words and she realised that she was grossly out of date on information. "Starscream?! He's still alive? He's in this star system?"

"So you have heard of him. Yes, he's alive, unfortunately, and with your help he will be out of the system for good." Megatron's tone was both eager and full of loathing.

She had known the Seeker, Starscream, aeons before in her academy days; she respected and admired him for his speed, skill and his charisma. She suddenly doubted that she could do this mission. She realised that she could not remain emotionally detached from this particular hit.

They when they went through battle training together. Although he never gave her the time of day, she adored Starscream. She had asked him repeatedly to go for a shared energon and he had repeatedly turned her down. It wasn't just her, he had turned other female Seekers down. It appeared he did not have time for anything else other then his studies or his ambitions.

Reality and the inside of the brilliantly lit cavern returned. Megatron stood before her watching her intently. She glanced around at a loss with the mixed, confusing emotions. "I—uh," She thought for a moment attempting to formulate a sentence. She should take the job and shoot him in the back and leave, but the thought pained her. This was Starscream's life she now held in her hands. Other targets in the past were unknown to her. This target brought back memories of the past.

She thought again of her own life, her caches of energon were dangerously low and a promise of eight hundred energon cubes to top it up, was very, very tempting. Eight hundred cubes would be about half a years wages for someone like Starscream and that was not including stuff that he would likely skim off the top or acquire on his own. Her two hundred would be about the equivalent for a regular soldier during that same time. 'Take the job, you stupid woman,' she thought to herself. 'what has Starscream ever done for you?' That was a good question. He had done nothing for her. Absolutely nothing.

Her mind drifted back to Starscream at the academy; he was the best. He out flew everyone else, agile, fast, accurate. She was not a top flyer but she still competed once or twice against his flying skills in training games. Those games usually ended with her left in the wake of his vapour trails, her engines were flawed and he knew that. Her speed could not be maintained for very long periods. She could not forget his harsh, arrogant, laugh as he taunted her to follow him, if she could. Hurt and angry she stopped her active pursuit for his affection. She watched as Starscream slowly changed from shy and quiet, when he first arrived, to arrogant and proud from his success. Disgusted, she fell back into the shadows and then into the arms of another Seeker.

Eight hundred energon cubes, she thought again, that would be enough to pay for an upgrade to fix that design flaw. But what would the point be? If she killed Starscream and fixed that flaw she would have no one to fly against, to prove that it worked. That was the whole point of fixing it, wasn't it? To prove she was better than others had thought. But who was she trying to impress? Herself? Windraker? Hardly, he was dead aeons ago. No, Starscream. She wanted to prove to him that he missed out. But she would not be able to do that if he were dead. Then she knew she could not do the job. That was her choice.

"No, I'm sorry the deal's off," she said softly after a huge pause. "I am not going to assassinate Starscream for you. If you have a problem with him; do it yourself." She was kicking herself, insulting herself, cursing herself internally. Eight hundred energon cubes, that was no small payment. And she was turning it down. How could she? She felt disgusted with herself. Was she blind? How could she allow emotions from millions of years before to cloud her judgement? He was not likely the same person anymore.

Megatron's optics flashed angrily. "You dare turn me down? I will tack two hundred more cubes to your payment, I want that traitor slagged!" he ordered gesturing threateningly with his fusion cannon.

One thousand energon cubes, she mused, she wondered if she could get the anti upped a little bit more. Despite her emotions the thought of more energon dazzled her mind. If the price was right she would deal with her personal guilt later and slag Starscream. Something Megatron said bothered her, "traitor?" she asked, she did not believe those words. Starscream's whole heart and soul was into the Decepticon cause. Nothing would come between him and his desire for what the Decepticons were owed. That much was evident in the academy.

"He's a traitor, a threat to the Decepticon cause and a serious thorn in my side," Megatron said harshly he stepped closer and closed his hand into a fist that sparked with brilliant purple flashes.

She shook her head fervently, "I can't kill him, Megatron, I'm sorry."

"You can't or you won't?" he said dangerously. The fusion cannon's muzzle glow brightened.

She knew she had lost her mind but her optics were transfixed on the muzzle the words defied her mouth and continued to dump her into very hot water. "There is no way I can possibly kill Starscream."

The flare started to sputter as one died and the cavern was partly darkened."I am sorry to hear you say that, Seeker, this hit is highly classified you either do it or you die." Megatron said flatly. He raised his fusion cannon. The purple glow at the end brightened to a brilliant lavender white as the room blackened from the death of the second flare.

The Seeker inhaled sharply and shook with fright as she backed away from Megatron. She spun on her heel and quickly ran toward where she had sighted the opening to the cavern. She stumbled along the cavern chased by Megatron's fearful laughter. He followed her along and fired off a blast from his fusion cannon. She was sent spiralling, with a shrill cry of pain, out of the cave and lay still on the rocky ground, unconscious.

Megatron followed her out and looked down at his handiwork. Huge hole smoked in her lower back almost severing her in two at the waist. He nudged her with is foot. Satisfied he spoke, "useless lot you Seekers are, all alike, all disobedient." Megatron jumped into the thin red atmosphere and flew upward to Phobos where Astrotrain was waiting for him.

Utter Chaos
Tharis Plateau, Mars
Earth date: August 27th 1989

The wounded yellow Seeker moaned softly as she dragged herself over the rocky ground. Her legs would not respond to her mental commands. She found it quite alarming to find that she could not even feel her legs or anything below her waist. She weakly cried out for help but knew it was futile. Her weak voice would barely carry in the thin air and the last time she looked, she was the only one on this world.

Her fuel pump hammered painfully and after a few minutes of trying to crawl out of the shelter of the rocks she lay down too weak to continue forward. Her face was pressed into the cold, dry Martian dust. Her fingers dug into the loose soil as she exhaled gustily. 'Starscream lives,' she thought, 'he made it through the aeons to Decepticon Sub Commander.' The Seeker tried to pull herself forward again, not willing to let go as the oblivion started to take hold.

She was not sure, but thought she could hear the sound of someone or something approaching but the Seeker no longer cared. Her vision was blurry as she watched, in a detached manner, the dust blow about her fingers. Then slowly she fell into unconsciousness, rather than the blackness that she expected, it became a brilliant painful blinding white and very cold.

Silver plains, Elora
Earth date: 48k B.C.

The planet below was small and covered with thick a layer of ice and snow, a glacier. Rough mountain peaks poked high into the sky. Thick silver- grey clouds shrouded part of the horizon with a threat of an intense snow squall.

This world was almost a solid frozen ball, almost all organic life had perished on it aeons before as the sun that it orbited ceased to give off enough light energy to keep it warm. But not too far under the surface of crusted ice, were the abundant resources of coal, oil, gas, metals and a rumoured source of the green quartz-like Cybertronium. The only animals that existed now were those that lived near deep underwater volcanic vents where the water was warm enough to sustain life for a while.

Only fifty million years before, this planet was thriving with tropical forests from pole to pole with deep, rich oceans that thrived with marine animals. Then over time the energy output from the planet's sun weakened and the rain forests died, being replaced by temperate forests with small ice caps that grew in size over the continents and most of the oceans. It had been thought that mining of the resources would cause a greenhouse effect and protect the planet from the coming ice age. However, that idea failed and the world froze to death.

The Autobots claimed ownership of the frozen world and were trying to mine it. But the Decepticons wanted the world for themselves and sent in a mission to attack the Autobot city of New Iacon and destroy their governor.

Seven Seekers flew out of the silver clouds in a loose arrowhead formation.

"So far so good, the enemy has not sighted us," observed Windraker, "but that weather system up ahead looks dodgy."

The sky near the city was growing black and angry, a grey haze obscured some of the buildings in what looked like a very, very heavy blizzard. Below the fliers were black tarmac roads with traffic heading toward the city. Huge ploughs were being brought out of cone shaped shelters, gritters and salters were being loaded in readiness. They were busy with preparations that they failed to see the oncoming Seekers.

"Stay tight in formation and keep Windraker surrounded. He is the most important one of us on this mission all the rest are expendable," the yellow Seeker ordered the others as she took the very front of the formation. The Seekers organised themselves into circle around the dark grey Seeker.

"Is this necessary?" inquired Ionstorm. Heatwave and Rainmaker took the rear with Thermal and Nebula flying the left and right flank.

"We must protect Windraker at all cost," she replied, "we must be able to get him to the designated area. Then he and I will use our stealth to get to the bunker, drop our bombs and get the slag out." She shivered as she was buffeted by a chill wind that almost froze her fuel lines.

"Well if you are going to be doing a secret mission, is it not a little obvious that there is something afoot with seven Seekers flying in?" inquired Thermal with sarcasm from her right.

The lead Seeker scanned the ground below with radar and visuals she could see no indication that there was anyone with knowledge of their presence and so far her radar and infrared suppression was helping to some degree. "You know your jobs, you are to provide a diversion," she responded darkly. There was some angry muttering around her.

"Why did they place you on the same team as Windraker?" questioned Nebula, "I thought they were against placing those who have emotional or spark bonds on the same team. It could cloud your judgement, cause errors and you know...screw us all over."

"I requested to lead this mission, I am stealth capable," she responded hotly.

"You requested and they granted? This mission is a particularly dangerous one. You should not be leading it, after all, you've recently achieved a black mark on your permanent record." replied Heatwave sounding both sarcastic and surprised.

The yellow Seeker winced at the reminder. She had been trying to forget that she had been reprimanded and this was likely her final chance at proving her abilities. She had to convince Cypherwing that this mission would succeed only under her leadership. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and she assured him that he had made the right choice.

"That's enough out of all of you," Windraker interjected. "They have their reasons for pairing us in this mission. You don't have to like it, however you are to follow her orders...what the?!" Windraker was cut off short when a hail of laser fire shot up from the ground.

To her dismay they had been spotted. Their argument distracted them from the situation at hand and they had flown a bit too low. Their engines were noticed above the roar of the wind. "Windraker, Heatwave and Thermal, break formation and follow me," she ordered as she glanced at the flack blasts as they exploded all around her small formation. "We're going in. The rest of you, take out those guns." The team split into the two groups.

She watched on her radar as the other three Seekers laying down diversionary fire. Strafing the ground in an attempt to take out the machines that were responsible for the fire and shrapnel filled sky. Without warning a blast from the flack weapons exploded under Thermal. With a cry the silver and black Seeker spun out of control and hit the ground. The Seeker exploded in a huge, orange yellow fireball that sent smoke billowing high into the sky like a beacon to enemy that trouble was here. In the distance air raid klaxons sounded, warning the Autobots of the attack.

Her optics widened in surprise and shock. "Thermal? Do you copy? Thermal!" There was only static. "Slag, Thermal's dead, leave him, we must continue," She ordered over the radio. Several huge flack explosions erupted all around her, "I said for you to take out those guns...gargh! I'll do it myself!" she screamed at the other Seekers who were attempting to take out ground to air weapons.

She was not impressed, the others seemed disorganised and were taking out all the wrong targets. 'Why?' she wondered, 'were they trying to throw the mission?' She suddenly banked to the left and her yellow-gold form streaked downward and fired her plasma cannons at the Autobots manning the defensive weapons on the ground. One down and then the other, she felt confident that she was doing the correct thing.

"What the slag? Are you crazy?!" exclaimed Heatwave. "You can't leave us like tha...argh!" The maroon and orange Seeker was cut off as an anti aircraft missile blew off his wingtip, he banked awkwardly in attempt to balance himself and hit Windraker broadside.

Windraker lost some altitude and took a flack blast that blew off his tail stabilisers. There was another explosion under Windraker, he screamed out in pain as his underside was peppered with deep cuts and gouges. He leaked fuel and energon copiously as he careened toward the ground.

Distracted with watching Windraker, she failed to notice the heat seeking missile coming on her six. It hit her and exploded, she fell out of the sky and transformed as she smashed into the ground. She glanced up and witnessed Heatwave bounce three times before he exploded.

She watched in mute horror as Windraker fought for control of what appeared to be a lost guidance system. He smashed, nose first, into a bunker. The pale gold Seeker offlined her optics. She knew she had failed massively. Another flubbed mission and one with severe casualties this time, if she lived she knew she would be severely reprimanded if not executed.

"Four of our wingmates are dead, mission failed return to base!" ordered Rainmaker over the radio. "This mission has been scrubbed." There was a long awkward pause as the Seekers flew up and disappeared into the black stormy sky.

"What about making sure?" inquired Nebula.

"To dangerous, if they live they'll have to take their chances, leave them," replied Rainmaker. There was a murmur of agreement from Ionstorm and then the communications ceased.

She was unable to respond to tell them that she lived. The wind howled and snow fell around her body. She listened for a moment and could hear the soft footfalls of someone approaching in the new fallen snow. She did not look up to see who it was, instead she exhaled and fell into unconsciousness.

Scientific Research
Tharis Plateau, Mars
Earth date: August 27th 1989

Skyfire knelt down and scooped up a sample of the Martian soil into a test tube. He placed the tube and soil into a scanner and waited for the hum of analysis.

[Micro-organisms present: simple bacteria,] it informed him. The scanner continued it's analysis as it categorised and sorted out the bacterium.

Many humans strongly believed that Mars was a dead world: devoid of all life. He believed that there had been something here once, long ago. Just below the Martian surface he had discovered small traces of water. Organic life usually relied upon water. Most of the ice in the polar caps was created from carbon dioxide; commonly known as dry ice.

The human fantasies of six fingered aliens, green men, or thriving civilisations were far fetched. Life once flourished in a simpler form and died as the sources of water evaporated and were lost into space. But he also had suspected that the precious substance could be in a liquid form somewhere under the ground. Where there is water, life could possibly be found.

He had found twenty different extremophile micro-organisms in the area around the Olympus Mons volcano in the Theris Plateau. He came here to study Martian micro-organisms after he had discovered that he was not well suited to the ongoing war on Earth. He had lain asleep, frozen in ice, while this war waged. It was not his war, he did not choose to get involved: he was dragged in.

Skyfire leaned up against the bolder that he had taken his samples from. He glanced around the rugged landscape with a sigh. He somewhat regretted being found by Starscream four years earlier. The passage of time had changed the Seeker for the worse. He had become harsh and dangerous, forgetting his original purpose.

Where had the peaceful scientist gone? What brought the Seeker to his war loving path? Starscream was a scientist and a scholar, not a cold blooded killer. He learned from ancient civilisations; he did not seek to destroy them. Skyfire wondered what scientific endeavours the Seeker was up to with the Decepticons. Then he wondered if it was something he really wanted to know.

In the distance he heard a boom and a faint cry. Skyfire stood up, turning his head in the direction of the sound. He noticed a streak of silver shoot into the sky. It moved too fast for him to catch who it was but he figured, by the ability to fly, that it had to be a Decepticon. Starscream perhaps?

His curiosity tugged at his mind. Why would Decepticons be on the desolate planet of Mars? He walked toward the area where he had seen the silver streak. A gust of wind picked up and slammed him. Skyfire glanced over his shoulder and saw the start of a Martian dust storm. His fuel pump hammered slightly and Skyfire decided he'd better take cover.

The ferocious sand storms could last from minutes to months and he did not wish to be caught out in the open in one. He neared the distant outcrop of yellow and red rocks when he spotted a movement; the yellow rock moved from between two massive boulders and stopped.

Skyfire ran toward the yellow heap that lay amongst the rocks. As he came closer to the heap he recognised the form. Two triangular surfaces that sported white and red stripes, white tooth-like intakes and finely formed fingers. The Seeker form had all the delicate sleekness of a female. The body was covered in a fine dust that made the Seeker seem a little duller by the minute. Yet there was something strange about her.

He stepped closer and kneeled down and cringed as he saw the still smoking, grit filled wound. The sand around her was sticky with leaking energon. He looked past her feet and saw the furrow and trail and realised that she had pulled herself along quite a distance before losing strength.

Her colour was fading quickly and Skyfire glanced over his shoulder. The red sandstorm was shrouding the meagre light of the sun. He looked back down at the inanimate form. 'The only good Decepticon was a dead one', he thought to himself as he stood up and turned away.

Skyfire paused and squinted. Just ahead of the Decepticon was a cave, a possible shelter from the storm, providing that it went deep enough. He moved to leave the Seeker where she lay in the rocks and stopped. Guiltily he glanced back at the approaching wall of red dust and back to the Decepticon laying on the hard dusty ground. A sudden gust of sand-filled wind hit Skyfire with intense force. It felt abrasive and painful as blasted at his surface. The sandstorm was almost here. He realised he would have to get under cover or he would find his outer hull scoured.

He moved a step towards the cave and hesitated again. He was warring with an internal battle of right and wrong. What if there was a chance? Perhaps she was only in a stasis. If she was, would he not be committing a crime against life by leaving her to die alone, untreated in the desert? The Seeker had not attacked him. Every life was precious, even an enemies life. He realised what was odd about this Seeker: her wings. There was no insignia on her wings. All Decepticon Seekers sported their insignia proudly on their wings.

Skyfire crouched down and pulled a scanner out of subspace. He glanced up cautiously at the approaching storm. He was about to activate his scanner to check for life force when he noticed the Seeker fingers move slightly. That was all the information he needed. There was still a faint spark of life within the greying hull.

Skyfire reached down and carefully collected the wounded flier and turned and ran for the cave as the storm hit.

Silver plains, Elora
Earth date: 48k B.C.

The sound of bleeping medical machines were what woke her up. She became aware of other machines and a very astringent smell. She groaned internally, it was a repair bay. The Decepticons did get her out and repaired her rather than shoot her and be done. Slowly her optics came on line. Her vision was blurry and she had to initiate a re-boot sequence in order to clear her optics of static.

"I'm Snowblade," the voice said cheerfully to her right. "This is Sandblaster and Roadwork." He gestured to the others.

Her vision flickered as she squinted at the speaker "Who?" she wondered out loud. She did not recognise the name or the voice. She focused on the chest as he leaned over her and tensed up. She felt a surge of panic as she recognised the brilliant red symbol on his torso as belonging to an Autobot and not to a Decepticon. She glanced about and had the grim realisation she was a prisoner of war.

Her machines buzzed, bleeped and blinked in response to her anxiety. Roadwork stepped around to her head to examine the readouts that the machine produced. She tipped her head slightly to watch what he was doing but she could see very little. He muttered softly to himself oblivious to the others.

"We found you in the snow, well...we ran over you with our ploughs first," Snowblade explained, bringing her attention back to him. "Sandblaster here spotted you as my blade turned you over. We were working clearing the road in tandem, you know." He used his hand to demonstrate the action of his blade flipping her into the path of the other. Sandblaster shook his head and chuckled. The memory seemed to hold amusement to them both. The yellow Seeker shuddered at the thought of being buried in ice and snow, never to be found again.

She studied the one who introduced himself as Snowblade and realised he was much too huge to fit his almost soft and gentle voice. He was orange and black in colour. His right arm sported a very large, worn looking blade that was connected to the shoulder, it looked as if it had been used as a shield. His right arm seemed oddly weaker, but she decided not to be deceived by this. Across his front he had another massive blade that appeared as if it could be moved. At his shoulders and down his legs he had six huge tires that had thick treads and chains that wrapped around them. The other two were similarly constructed, although they did not bear the Autobot insignia's on their chests.

"Where am I?" she inquired looking at the three massive transformers. The Seeker slowly sat up and glanced around the room more carefully. Her optics rested on the exit then back at her three massive captors. Again, she studied the plough blade that Snowblade had on his arm. Her optics admired the bottom edge as she realised that, although it looked worn, he could easily use it to cut her in two.

Attacking any of them would be nearly pointless, they were about twice her size and had much more armour than she did. She would have to wait until another time to make an escape. Escape to where? Base? Would she even be wanted back there? She knew she had no choice. She had to report to Cypherwing as soon as she could.

"You're at New Iacon's Silver plains hospital and storm shelter," Snowblade replied cheerfully.

"The others you were with did not fare too well. We found remains of one scattered over at least a kilometre another who was a smouldering frame. The grey one that had smashed into the bunker will be put to rest soon," said Roadwork who was evidently a medical officer with bad bedside manners.

She was not all sure if he was making conversation, informing her of reality or attempting to intimidate her. "Windraker? He's here? He's alive?" she asked.

"He is alive, if you want to call it that," Roadwork said with a shrug. "He won't live long, he's a vegetable you see, all his databanks and data processors were shook up and smashed from the impact." He turned away and filled out some information on a clipboard. He turned to the others and gave them a grim nod. "Good she's ready for questioning. Let's take her away," he said disconnecting her from machines.

The other two helped her off the table and lead her away from the room. They passed through a hall that had several windows. She could see Autobots treating wounded on the inside. They passed a door that had two armed guards standing by. That could only be Windraker's room. Her spark sank and she felt a sense of fury.

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