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Description
Chapter 4
Have I found my place in this world?

"Failing to report an energy signature to me has consequences, doctor" Megatron murmured, as he observed Soundwaves screen that was beeping away as a radar.
"Lord Megatron, the signal vanished before I could report it to you," Knockout protested, but Megatron grunted in disbelief.
"Vanished?" he spat, "it's still clear as day," he stood aside to allow Knockout to see the screen for himself.
Knockout stepped forwards cautiously and his brow furrowed, "that's not the energy signature I found," his gaze fell on Megatron momentarily, then back to Soundwave, "this one is outside of Earths atmosphere,"
"There are others?" Megatrons optics widened and he gritted his denta, trying to mask the panic riddled on his face, "we must move to these co-ordinates immediately!"
"Lord Megatron, I would advise otherwise," Knockout knew that reasoning with Megatron was not the safest option, but he didn't have a choice, "our energon reserves are slowly being eaten away by our miners that are using more than they can return, do we really need to risk walking directly into a possible ambush?"
Megatron considered Knockouts advice, but his spark was strained; he couldn't just sit back and allow new arrivals to Earth without knowing who they were and why, all of a sudden, they had arrived.
Something then changed in the room, Megatron couldn't quite identify what was different, but then he heard Soundwave step forwards, as he turned to view his commanders radar again, he then realised how quiet it was, the tracking had stopped. The signature had been cloaked and lost.
The fury then built up and boiled the energon in Megatrons veins once more, he clenched his talons into a fist and swung around in a rage he couldn't control, planting his servo deep in Soundwaves screen, causing it to shatter. Slowly, and with a terrified expression, Megatron removed his fist, watching as shards of the screen crashed to the floor.
Soundwave took a step backwards to free himself completely from Megatron, on the last step he stumbled and fell to the floor, motionless, with sparks still jumping out from his exposed facial circuits.
Knockout gasped and distanced himself too, he took a few steps away from Megatron, slowly at first, but then he turned and ran out into the safety of the corridor. Then he realised; nobody was safe anymore, not even on the Nemesis, their home…

Jack was waiting outside his house for Arcee to come and collect him, it was Saturday morning and the sun was shining, Jack had been hoping that he and Arcee could go for a ride through the desert as it was such a nice day, but sadly Arcee appeared to be running late. This had become a usual occurrence since the new arrival of Ouzel.
Jack had no hard feelings against Ouzel, or Arcee to be truthful, but he had just never expected Arcee to have other priorities beyond her work.
His thoughts were interrupted by an eager sounding car horn, when he looked up, he saw the distinctive black and yellow muscle car, he didn't question where Arcee was, this was something else he had become accustom to since Ouzel arrived, silently, he got into the car and smiled politely at Raf.
"Arcee still at base?" he sighed,
"No, she and Optimus are tracking down some energon," Raf replied,
"Just the two of them?"
"Bee says that the energon is low at base, they can't afford to waste it with all of them responding,"
"Oh, right," Jack was pleased to hear that she wasn't with Ouzel, because if that were the case, the two of them could be gone for hours before she remembered to come and see him.

Ratchet had recovered from the argument he and Arcee had a few days ago, he had even grown fond of Ouzel, he was a good mech, he had good morals and appeared eager to help in any way that he could, also Ratchet couldn't deny the advantages of having a seeker amongst them.
"So I use these keys to enter the co-ordinates to where I want to go, and then I pull this leaver to activate it?"
"That's right, told you it was simple enough," Ratchet gleamed at Ouzel, the mech was always eager to learn from him,
"Ratchet," Ouzels voice changed whenever he was about to ask the medic for advice or a question that may seem random or out of line,
"Yes?" Ratchet smiled jokingly and raised an optic ridge,
"Does Optimus have a second in command?" Ouzel looked directly into Ratchets optics, wanting to see the response in his features that came with his answer, he saw the red and white mech pause and think, then his optic ridge furrowed, as though he were looking for the answer,
"Well, no, I suppose not," Ratchet sounded surprised with his answer, "I mean, I kind of stepped up to the challenge when Optimus lost his memories recently, but he doesn't have anyone that goes by the official title," Ratchet then stopped speaking and he smiled sarcastically, looking back at the black and grey mech, "you're after the responsibility?" Ratchet teased,
"Well, I just think that maybe it would be a good way to help out," Ouzel looked slightly embarrassed but he tried to hide it behind his coy smile,
"I highly doubt that Optimus would give the title of 'second in command' to anyone, he treats us all as equals, playing on our advantages when they're needed," Ratchet smiled to himself, Ouzel was certainly a perfect example of a young mech, curious and aiming high, it was why Ratchet eventually took a shine to him…
"I understand," Ouzel too grinned to himself, but for reasons unknown to Ratchet.

Starscream had been scouting again, although he was losing his touch, he returned to his lair with only scraps and shards clutched in his servos, as he went to land his wing clipped against a tree, almost causing him to crash, he transformed to his bipedal mode before touching the floor,
"This new t-cog is a real pain in the aft to get used to," he mumbled to himself as he approached the cavern carved into a rocky verge that he called home, but before going inside he heard a rustling noise behind him in the bushes. He was used to seeing Earths organic creatures around him every now and then when he rose, but never at night, which was why this probably startled him.
Starscream dropped the shards of energon and aimed his rockets into the bushes where the noise had come from, the rustling started again and he prepared to fire, "show yourself," he whimpered.
A deer trotted merrily out of the hedge, it startled Starscream but he didn't fire, he only gasped. Lowering his arms and relaxing he smiled, "oh, it's you," he purred, he stretched out his arm from his body and let the deer approach him, once the animal was close enough, he stroked its back with the side of his servo, taking extra care not to hurt the creature.
The deer looked peaceful and content with Starscreams contact, but then its head suddenly jolted and the animals' ears pricked up, Starscream moved his servo away and watched the creature as it went into a defensive stance. Then another noise could be heard from the trees, the startled deer ran and Starscream watched as it hopped over the hedge, hidden away into the depths of the overgrown forest, then he felt his spark sink in his chest as the noises got closer.
"Who's there?" Starscream shouted, then he heard a mechanical creaking noise, at first he thought that the insecticons had possibly located him, this time he chose not to reveal his rockets, instead he dived into his cavern and curled up, hugging his knees, watching the entrance.
The noises got closer and closer and ended with a thud just outside of the caves entrance, Starscream waited to see signs of an ambush, praying to Primus as his optics glistened with tears before he shut them tightly, accepting the fate that awaited him outside of the cave…

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Starscream could hear the hollow noises of birds whistling and small mammals rustling through the leaves that lined his cave, it was a noise he didn't expect to hear again, not after the scare he had the night before,
"I must have fell into stasis," he croaked, as he looked beside him to his minuscule energon pile, grabbing a small shard and crushing it into a powder which he poured into his mouth, hoping that this bitter segment would be enough to keep him going for another day.
A rabbit approached his face and was curiously sniffing around his chin, in response Starscream raised his servo slowly and scratched the creatures head, just between its ears, but then just like the deer; the rabbit suddenly darted off down a hole in response to a noise outside.
Starscreams optics widened, 'that's it' he told himself, ' it's not worth living if I must do it in fear' with that in mind he lifted himself off the floor and slowly crawled to the entrance, he could see the bright beams of the morning sun and he could feel the warmth seeping into the cavern from the entrance that he was getting closer to. Before he could reach the entrance, his optics were blinded by the dazzling light, but he continued to move forward, hoping his optics would adjust shortly. He felt the soft grass beneath his servos and the breeze of the open summer air against his wings and armour, he sighed and shut his optics tightly, waiting for them to wake up to the light.
Very slowly, his vision began to return, at first he saw the light and the soft pastel colours of the blurred trees and flowers, he could make out the shape of something large lying in the clearing before him. He blinked again and now he could make out the shape of a body, his spark leapt up into his throat, stopping him from gasping from the shock.
Starscream fell backwards, crushing his wings against the rocks and startling the animals around him, laying outside of his cavern; was Magpie, or at least what was left of her.
Her wings had been snapped half way down, her armour was covered in scuffs and there was a small pool of energon around her waist, but with all of this in his sight, Starscream still only saw a vision of beauty and perfection.
"Magpie," he whispered as he shuffled forwards on his servos and knees, afraid to touch her in case it would wake him up from his dream.
Then she started to move, she rolled onto her back with her optics barely opened, Starscream smiled and placed his servos onto her arms, he couldn't have been happier to see those mismatching red and blue optics and tiny smile.
"I found you," Magpie whispered before her optics closed again and her body went limp,
Starscream knew she was in pain, she was suffering tremendously, but his smile wouldn't fade, his spark felt whole once again as he cradled her closely to his chest before carrying her into the safety of his makeshift home.

"Optimus, over here," this time Ouzel had insisted on accompanying Optimus on a re-con duty, there was some suspicious activity around this area only a few hours prior, Optimus had wanted to investigate as well as test Ouzel in his abilities as a seeker.
"What do you see?" Optimus thundered over to where Ouzel was looking over a boulder into an open clearing, but on second glance it would appear that it wasn't always so open.
To the sides of the clearing there were piles of rocks and trees that had once formed what looked like a small oasis inside the mountains, but now all that was left was sand and rubble.
Ouzel looked to Optimus expectantly, "Awaiting orders, Optimus," he announced as he stood to his full height.
Optimus looked at the seeker, stood to attention, it made him feel awkward, "at ease soldier, we will go and investigate together," Optimus leapt over the boulder and began sliding down the canyons wall, but he was then stopped at the bottom by Ouzel, who had flown down and beat him to it,
"Optimus," he looked concerned, "I'm picking something up, like there's someone here,"
Optimus looked in all directions, but it was vacant, "Ouzel, there's nobody here,"
"Wait a moment," Ouzel then took a few steps forward cautiously, he turned on his heel to face Optimus, "it's here," he said, going down onto one knee and burying his servo in the ground, he kept digging and stopped just before his elbow hinge touched the dirt.
"What is it?" Optimus stepped forward and helped pull Ouzels arm from the ground,
"I've got something," Ouzel mumbled through his denta, then he pushed off the ground with his legs, allowing himself and Optimus to fall backwards. Optimus fell back onto his aft while he was still holding onto Ouzel, the mech was cradled between his legs and didn't appear to be moving,
"Ouzel, what did you find?" Optimus demanded an answer, but then he looked over the seekers shoulder and saw that he was cradling a large energon shard in his servos, Optimus was stunned, his jaw dropped, they had just stumbled onto an energon deposit, the only problem was, someone else knew about it too, as they had already made the clearing noticeable...

"It's such a large deposit, are you sure? Check again," Knockout ordered the Eradicon to repeat some of his findings for the third time, "energon doesn't just appear out of nowhere, we have to be right about this one," Knockout smacked the side of the Eradicons head before marching off to find Megatron, as he did so, he passed the room where Soundwave had been put into stasis, awaiting his urgent treatment. Knockout stared at the large mech lying motionless on the berth, tubes were passing through his systems, barely keeping him alive, the worst part of this was the lack of remorse Megatron showed for his actions. What was even worse, was the facts where all pointing at Knockout as being Megatrons new second in command, a title that he didn't desire after recent events.
"Please let this find be correct, I never thought I'd be saying this; but I need you, Soundwave," secretly Knockout knew he could never amount to the task of second in command, there was only one other option and that was Dreadwing, but he was too unstable as far as Megatron was concerned.
"Knockout," Megatron murmured, "I've been looking for you," he stormed into the medical bay where his previous second in command was laying on his possible death-bed, and still all Megatron could do was smile triumphantly, "such a large find, congratulations, doctor," he was referring to the energon deposit, Megatron placed a servo on Knockouts shoulder, making him flinch,
"Lord Megatron, it was nothing, the signal found us," Knockout refused to make eye contact,
"Don't be so modest, you are capable of great things. But so am I, you will do well to remember that, I would hate to have another like Starscream in my company,"
Knockout smiled nervously, that was it, Megatron had just practically labelled Knockout second in command, luckily for him; Soundwave wasn't dead yet, if he got hold of some of that energon, then he could get on with his work and back to the way things were…

Description
Chapter 4
Have I found my place in this world?

"Failing to report an energy signature to me has consequences, doctor" Megatron murmured, as he observed Soundwaves screen that was beeping away as a radar.
"Lord Megatron, the signal vanished before I could report it to you," Knockout protested, but Megatron grunted in disbelief.
"Vanished?" he spat, "it's still clear as day," he stood aside to allow Knockout to see the screen for himself.
Knockout stepped forwards cautiously and his brow furrowed, "that's not the energy signature I found," his gaze fell on Megatron momentarily, then back to Soundwave, "this one is outside of Earths atmosphere,"
"There are others?" Megatrons optics widened and he gritted his denta, trying to mask the panic riddled on his face, "we must move to these co-ordinates immediately!"
"Lord Megatron, I would advise otherwise," Knockout knew that reasoning with Megatron was not the safest option, but he didn't have a choice, "our energon reserves are slowly being eaten away by our miners that are using more than they can return, do we really need to risk walking directly into a possible ambush?"
Megatron considered Knockouts advice, but his spark was strained; he couldn't just sit back and allow new arrivals to Earth without knowing who they were and why, all of a sudden, they had arrived.
Something then changed in the room, Megatron couldn't quite identify what was different, but then he heard Soundwave step forwards, as he turned to view his commanders radar again, he then realised how quiet it was, the tracking had stopped. The signature had been cloaked and lost.
The fury then built up and boiled the energon in Megatrons veins once more, he clenched his talons into a fist and swung around in a rage he couldn't control, planting his servo deep in Soundwaves screen, causing it to shatter. Slowly, and with a terrified expression, Megatron removed his fist, watching as shards of the screen crashed to the floor.
Soundwave took a step backwards to free himself completely from Megatron, on the last step he stumbled and fell to the floor, motionless, with sparks still jumping out from his exposed facial circuits.
Knockout gasped and distanced himself too, he took a few steps away from Megatron, slowly at first, but then he turned and ran out into the safety of the corridor. Then he realised; nobody was safe anymore, not even on the Nemesis, their home…

Jack was waiting outside his house for Arcee to come and collect him, it was Saturday morning and the sun was shining, Jack had been hoping that he and Arcee could go for a ride through the desert as it was such a nice day, but sadly Arcee appeared to be running late. This had become a usual occurrence since the new arrival of Ouzel.
Jack had no hard feelings against Ouzel, or Arcee to be truthful, but he had just never expected Arcee to have other priorities beyond her work.
His thoughts were interrupted by an eager sounding car horn, when he looked up, he saw the distinctive black and yellow muscle car, he didn't question where Arcee was, this was something else he had become accustom to since Ouzel arrived, silently, he got into the car and smiled politely at Raf.
"Arcee still at base?" he sighed,
"No, she and Optimus are tracking down some energon," Raf replied,
"Just the two of them?"
"Bee says that the energon is low at base, they can't afford to waste it with all of them responding,"
"Oh, right," Jack was pleased to hear that she wasn't with Ouzel, because if that were the case, the two of them could be gone for hours before she remembered to come and see him.

Ratchet had recovered from the argument he and Arcee had a few days ago, he had even grown fond of Ouzel, he was a good mech, he had good morals and appeared eager to help in any way that he could, also Ratchet couldn't deny the advantages of having a seeker amongst them.
"So I use these keys to enter the co-ordinates to where I want to go, and then I pull this leaver to activate it?"
"That's right, told you it was simple enough," Ratchet gleamed at Ouzel, the mech was always eager to learn from him,
"Ratchet," Ouzels voice changed whenever he was about to ask the medic for advice or a question that may seem random or out of line,
"Yes?" Ratchet smiled jokingly and raised an optic ridge,
"Does Optimus have a second in command?" Ouzel looked directly into Ratchets optics, wanting to see the response in his features that came with his answer, he saw the red and white mech pause and think, then his optic ridge furrowed, as though he were looking for the answer,
"Well, no, I suppose not," Ratchet sounded surprised with his answer, "I mean, I kind of stepped up to the challenge when Optimus lost his memories recently, but he doesn't have anyone that goes by the official title," Ratchet then stopped speaking and he smiled sarcastically, looking back at the black and grey mech, "you're after the responsibility?" Ratchet teased,
"Well, I just think that maybe it would be a good way to help out," Ouzel looked slightly embarrassed but he tried to hide it behind his coy smile,
"I highly doubt that Optimus would give the title of 'second in command' to anyone, he treats us all as equals, playing on our advantages when they're needed," Ratchet smiled to himself, Ouzel was certainly a perfect example of a young mech, curious and aiming high, it was why Ratchet eventually took a shine to him…
"I understand," Ouzel too grinned to himself, but for reasons unknown to Ratchet.

Starscream had been scouting again, although he was losing his touch, he returned to his lair with only scraps and shards clutched in his servos, as he went to land his wing clipped against a tree, almost causing him to crash, he transformed to his bipedal mode before touching the floor,
"This new t-cog is a real pain in the aft to get used to," he mumbled to himself as he approached the cavern carved into a rocky verge that he called home, but before going inside he heard a rustling noise behind him in the bushes. He was used to seeing Earths organic creatures around him every now and then when he rose, but never at night, which was why this probably startled him.
Starscream dropped the shards of energon and aimed his rockets into the bushes where the noise had come from, the rustling started again and he prepared to fire, "show yourself," he whimpered.
A deer trotted merrily out of the hedge, it startled Starscream but he didn't fire, he only gasped. Lowering his arms and relaxing he smiled, "oh, it's you," he purred, he stretched out his arm from his body and let the deer approach him, once the animal was close enough, he stroked its back with the side of his servo, taking extra care not to hurt the creature.
The deer looked peaceful and content with Starscreams contact, but then its head suddenly jolted and the animals' ears pricked up, Starscream moved his servo away and watched the creature as it went into a defensive stance. Then another noise could be heard from the trees, the startled deer ran and Starscream watched as it hopped over the hedge, hidden away into the depths of the overgrown forest, then he felt his spark sink in his chest as the noises got closer.
"Who's there?" Starscream shouted, then he heard a mechanical creaking noise, at first he thought that the insecticons had possibly located him, this time he chose not to reveal his rockets, instead he dived into his cavern and curled up, hugging his knees, watching the entrance.
The noises got closer and closer and ended with a thud just outside of the caves entrance, Starscream waited to see signs of an ambush, praying to Primus as his optics glistened with tears before he shut them tightly, accepting the fate that awaited him outside of the cave…

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Starscream could hear the hollow noises of birds whistling and small mammals rustling through the leaves that lined his cave, it was a noise he didn't expect to hear again, not after the scare he had the night before,
"I must have fell into stasis," he croaked, as he looked beside him to his minuscule energon pile, grabbing a small shard and crushing it into a powder which he poured into his mouth, hoping that this bitter segment would be enough to keep him going for another day.
A rabbit approached his face and was curiously sniffing around his chin, in response Starscream raised his servo slowly and scratched the creatures head, just between its ears, but then just like the deer; the rabbit suddenly darted off down a hole in response to a noise outside.
Starscreams optics widened, 'that's it' he told himself, ' it's not worth living if I must do it in fear' with that in mind he lifted himself off the floor and slowly crawled to the entrance, he could see the bright beams of the morning sun and he could feel the warmth seeping into the cavern from the entrance that he was getting closer to. Before he could reach the entrance, his optics were blinded by the dazzling light, but he continued to move forward, hoping his optics would adjust shortly. He felt the soft grass beneath his servos and the breeze of the open summer air against his wings and armour, he sighed and shut his optics tightly, waiting for them to wake up to the light.
Very slowly, his vision began to return, at first he saw the light and the soft pastel colours of the blurred trees and flowers, he could make out the shape of something large lying in the clearing before him. He blinked again and now he could make out the shape of a body, his spark leapt up into his throat, stopping him from gasping from the shock.
Starscream fell backwards, crushing his wings against the rocks and startling the animals around him, laying outside of his cavern; was Magpie, or at least what was left of her.
Her wings had been snapped half way down, her armour was covered in scuffs and there was a small pool of energon around her waist, but with all of this in his sight, Starscream still only saw a vision of beauty and perfection.
"Magpie," he whispered as he shuffled forwards on his servos and knees, afraid to touch her in case it would wake him up from his dream.
Then she started to move, she rolled onto her back with her optics barely opened, Starscream smiled and placed his servos onto her arms, he couldn't have been happier to see those mismatching red and blue optics and tiny smile.
"I found you," Magpie whispered before her optics closed again and her body went limp,
Starscream knew she was in pain, she was suffering tremendously, but his smile wouldn't fade, his spark felt whole once again as he cradled her closely to his chest before carrying her into the safety of his makeshift home.

"Optimus, over here," this time Ouzel had insisted on accompanying Optimus on a re-con duty, there was some suspicious activity around this area only a few hours prior, Optimus had wanted to investigate as well as test Ouzel in his abilities as a seeker.
"What do you see?" Optimus thundered over to where Ouzel was looking over a boulder into an open clearing, but on second glance it would appear that it wasn't always so open.
To the sides of the clearing there were piles of rocks and trees that had once formed what looked like a small oasis inside the mountains, but now all that was left was sand and rubble.
Ouzel looked to Optimus expectantly, "Awaiting orders, Optimus," he announced as he stood to his full height.
Optimus looked at the seeker, stood to attention, it made him feel awkward, "at ease soldier, we will go and investigate together," Optimus leapt over the boulder and began sliding down the canyons wall, but he was then stopped at the bottom by Ouzel, who had flown down and beat him to it,
"Optimus," he looked concerned, "I'm picking something up, like there's someone here,"
Optimus looked in all directions, but it was vacant, "Ouzel, there's nobody here,"
"Wait a moment," Ouzel then took a few steps forward cautiously, he turned on his heel to face Optimus, "it's here," he said, going down onto one knee and burying his servo in the ground, he kept digging and stopped just before his elbow hinge touched the dirt.
"What is it?" Optimus stepped forward and helped pull Ouzels arm from the ground,
"I've got something," Ouzel mumbled through his denta, then he pushed off the ground with his legs, allowing himself and Optimus to fall backwards. Optimus fell back onto his aft while he was still holding onto Ouzel, the mech was cradled between his legs and didn't appear to be moving,
"Ouzel, what did you find?" Optimus demanded an answer, but then he looked over the seekers shoulder and saw that he was cradling a large energon shard in his servos, Optimus was stunned, his jaw dropped, they had just stumbled onto an energon deposit, the only problem was, someone else knew about it too, as they had already made the clearing noticeable...

"It's such a large deposit, are you sure? Check again," Knockout ordered the Eradicon to repeat some of his findings for the third time, "energon doesn't just appear out of nowhere, we have to be right about this one," Knockout smacked the side of the Eradicons head before marching off to find Megatron, as he did so, he passed the room where Soundwave had been put into stasis, awaiting his urgent treatment. Knockout stared at the large mech lying motionless on the berth, tubes were passing through his systems, barely keeping him alive, the worst part of this was the lack of remorse Megatron showed for his actions. What was even worse, was the facts where all pointing at Knockout as being Megatrons new second in command, a title that he didn't desire after recent events.
"Please let this find be correct, I never thought I'd be saying this; but I need you, Soundwave," secretly Knockout knew he could never amount to the task of second in command, there was only one other option and that was Dreadwing, but he was too unstable as far as Megatron was concerned.
"Knockout," Megatron murmured, "I've been looking for you," he stormed into the medical bay where his previous second in command was laying on his possible death-bed, and still all Megatron could do was smile triumphantly, "such a large find, congratulations, doctor," he was referring to the energon deposit, Megatron placed a servo on Knockouts shoulder, making him flinch,
"Lord Megatron, it was nothing, the signal found us," Knockout refused to make eye contact,
"Don't be so modest, you are capable of great things. But so am I, you will do well to remember that, I would hate to have another like Starscream in my company,"
Knockout smiled nervously, that was it, Megatron had just practically labelled Knockout second in command, luckily for him; Soundwave wasn't dead yet, if he got hold of some of that energon, then he could get on with his work and back to the way things were…