Ch - 1

[Location: Outside the destroyed Autobot base]

Elita-One was shaking from her prone sniping position, her eyes wide in shock at the smoldering, broken rock structure that had once been the Autobot's home. This was the reason she fought against Project: Damocles like she did when working for and after Colonel Bishop, a.k.a. Silas, the leader of M.E.C.H., this unnecessary destruction that the cruel Decepticons now wielded. If she did nothing else she would see that this weapon and the plans that they had for it were destroyed.

She felt her temper flare back up when two Decepticon fliers departed the Nemesis and headed down to the smoldering pit below. With a growl she focused through the scope of her sniper rifle down below, watching Megatron and Starscream gloating over their victory. Optimus Prime was in the base when it was destroyed and when Megatron became the center of her scope she found she was having trouble keeping her hand still she was so mad. As she finally calmed herself enough to where she could take the shot she heard an echo from her past, Prime's voice echoing in her head.

"Hold."

Elita dropped her head as she tried not to laugh and cry at the same time. Even with her sadness at the loss of a great friend and Leader, Elita realized that there were things that Prime had taught her and the others that will forever live with them. But there were some lines that Prime wouldn't cross that she knew had to. As she focused through the scope again she mumbled, "Eye for an eye."

Again Megatron came into focus, the Decepticon dictator surveying his victory with his second in command. Elita frowned as Starscream came into her line of sight. The cowardly 'Con would flee as soon as Megatron began to fall and that would leave him in charge of the Decepticons. Her best course of action would be to take Starscream out first and then quickly put Megatron down immediately after.

As she steadied herself for her shot, Prime's voice echoed in her head again. "Hold."

She wanted to beat her head into the rock beneath her. "Booting up cold, why? They just murdered you and further endangered everyone we care about, Prime," she whispered violently. Pushing her anger to the side again, Elita focused once more through the scope just in time for Megatron and Starscream to move out of her way. Growling to herself for a moment at the missed shot, Elita suddenly grew still as something that came into focus in the wreckage behind the 'Cons caught her eye, an arm.

Lifting her head back up, the Autobot sniper looked down at the smoking remains of the base. Prime's body was down there, enough of it at least for Megatron to make a trophy out of him. "I'd give up coffee before Prime decorates the front of the Nemisis."

Giving a sweep with her eyes, she focused on the area that Wheeljack had crashed, seeing more smoke billowing up from behind the massive rock pillar as a handful of Insecticons were flying themselves over to finish the job. Aiming to take a few of them out before they reached her fellow Autobot, Elita's energon pump froze up in fear. Through her scope, on the road that winded around the pillars, was her favorite white truck. She watched as the rusty 1940 Ford veered off of the road and was heading straight towards where The Jackhammer had crashed.

"Handsome?" she had to blink a couple of times to make sure her vision was clear, but by the time she focused through her scope again the truck had disappeared behind the massive pillar of rock that Wheeljack had crashed behind.

As more Decepticon flyers screamed from the Nemesis, she focused up at them with her own optics and frowned as they flew right to the wreckage that was once the Autobot base. There was no way she would be able to get to Optimus before they found him now so she focused through her scope again. She would take out what she could before she was discovered. As Optimus' arm came back into view Elita was rather surprised to find someone had already began to dig the Autobot leader out of the rubble.

[Location: Ruins of the Autobot base]

Smokescreen peeked out at Megatron and Starscream, for the moment their backs to him as he made his way closer to the hand sticking out of the twisted support girders that were once a part of the base. Optimus' hand was still, sparking from the damage he had taken, which made the Elite Guardsman fearful of the worse. Looking back at Megatron as he heard the dictator issue orders for workers to sift through the rubble Smokescreen saw a glint from one of the rocky peaks. Wary of the incoming flyers, the newest Autobot adjusted the phase shifter, which he had managed to grab during the chaos of the Omega Lock's destruction, and pulled Optimus out of the rubble.

The Autobot leader groaned as he was pulled free from the twisted pile making Smokescreen wince and double check to make sure that they weren't discovered. Their luck seemed to be holding out but he wouldn't tempt it for long. There were tunnels in the stone that ran under the base that were once venting systems for missile launches that he was hoping were undamaged. Smokescreen and Optimus had just disappeared from view as the Decepticon miner drones made their way over to the pile that had just moments ago pinned the Autobot leader.

[Location: Outside the ruins of the Autobot base]

Elita nodded to herself as Smokescreen and Optimus disappeared. Her communicator went out when the base was destroyed, but there was also the risk that the 'Cons were tracking any radio frequency so she would not draw attention to the others by trying to call the kid's phones.

"Come on, E, think," she mumbled, "they would know to try to meet up somewhere, but where? I should try to head to Agent Fowler's base; at least there I can get mended up." Going quite as a Decepticon jet flew right over her, Elita realized that her biggest problem was getting away from the area.

[Location: Jackhammer crash site]

As he pulled himself free from the steering console he found him folded over Wheeljack groaned as he pulled himself as upright as he could, the pain throwing his head for a spin. Around him his ship was a smoldering pile of slag and he was pretty sure that short of a complete overhaul that it would not likely fly again.

The tearing of metal off to his right drew the Wrecker out of his pain as he focused on the paneling being peeled away. Pulling free one of his swords, Wheeljack prepared to meet the Decepticons as they came for him but paused as the golden sunset back lit a bot he never thought he'd see again in all his stellar cycles. Looking in at him, chewing on a detonator control was an old, rust-scarred, white bot.

"Well, I'll be slagged," Wheeljack mumbled.

Author's Note: I do not own the show.