It was a normal day in Autobot HQ. Most of the ‘bots were out patrolling; Build Team was working on more space-bridge extensions; T-Ai’s warning sirens were blaring …

“Optimus, Optimus!”

“What is it, T-Ai?” A holographic woman appeared next to the Autobot leader, staring up at him urgently.

“Predacon activity spotted, sir! In sector 3-9-8,” T-Ai promptly answered. Optimus sighed. That wasn’t good news at all. Sector 3-9-8 had rough terrain that few Autobots could drive over, as there were no roads or even flat areas, and most Autobots had vehicle forms built for urban driving.

“T-Ai, bring up a list of all Autobots capable of handling the conditions in sector 3-9-8.” In response, three Autobots appeared on the Battle Protocol screen: a white with green trim SUV, a white and black truck, and a white with silver trim SUV. Optimus sighed again. X-Brawn was currently in the repair bay getting patched up by Sideburn after their last encounter with the Decepticons, and Ironhide was with the other Spy Changers one a scouting mission that required absolute radio silence. That left Silversteam. Scrap.  He really didn’t want to send Silversteam, but it seemed he had no choice.

“T-Ai, call up Silversteam. Tell her to observe what the Predacons are doing, but under no conditions is she to engage.”

With a salute and a sharp, “Yes, sir,” the pink-covered holo-girl turned back to her computer terminal to execute her orders.

On the overcrowded streets of the modern U.S. city, there were many large, bulky vehicles. Soccer moms drove the kids around in vans; truck drivers used their ten- and eighteen-wheelers to try to make a living; smaller trucks carried workers from the jobsite or businessmen home from their offices. While trying to navigate this haphazard mess, no one paid any particular attention to a white 2001 Isuzu Trooper. There was no need to, especially when that other car was tailgating, another didn’t seem to know how to use the gas, and yet another was weaving slightly because its driver was busily chatting away on her cell.

If anyone had paid the Trooper mind, they would have noticed something odd about it: the Trooper didn’t appear to have a driver. In fact, there was no one in the car at all. Despite this, there was a faint thrum of music coming from it as well as the sound of someone singing along under their breath, soft enough not to bother anyone else over the rumblings of the various engines. The relative peace, however, was not to last.

“Silversteam, come in!” T-Ai’s holographic face appeared on one of the white SUV’s internal monitors.

“I am reading you loud and clear, T-Ai,” came a soft, well-bred voice from the Trooper.

“Optimus needs you to observe some Predacon activity in Sector 3-9-8. You are not to engage under any circumstances.”

“Acknowledged, T-Ai. You need not worry about me engaging the enemy—it will not happen. Is there a nearby Space Bridge extension that I can use?”

“Sure,” chirped the super-computer. “Take a left at the next light, then go into the second parking garage on your right. I’ll have the Space Bridge pre-set for you when you get there.”

Silversteam spotted a hole in the traffic in the left lane and moved into it with an ease that could only come from practice. “Thank you, T-Ai.” Silversteam pulled over smoothly and stopped in the left turn lane to await a green light.

“You’re welcome,” was the perky reply right before T-Ai’s face cut out from the screen. As soon as the transmission ended, Silversteam’s radio returned to the local radio station she had been listening to before T-Ai contacted her. The music wasn’t as comforting now, though. Silversteam knew she was low on the totem pole amongst the Autobots, and that wasn’t a problem for her. It meant that most of the time she scouted low-priority areas and was rarely called into a fight, which was just fine with her. However it also meant that when she was called on a special assignment, then the Autobots had to be in a difficult spot.

The left-turn light turned green, and Silversteam obligingly pulled out. Idly, she wondered what the Preds were up to this time. She had read a few of the reports on their previous activities and she had to admit that some of their antics were quite amusing, after the fact.

She soon arrived at the Space Bridge. Once on it, she sped up to her max speed, much faster than a normal Trooper could go. All too quickly, she arrived at the end of the spacebridge and returned to normal space once more. The sight that greeted her optical sensors was that of trees, trees, and more trees. Plus, there was plenty of mud and large rocks that would mean certain severe damage to any vehicle built solely for cruising the streets and dodging traffic jams. Not that Silversteam’s own vehicle form was much better. She didn’t have all the structural reinforcements and upgrades that most prolific 4-Wheelers ( X-Brawn included ) had, but she did at least have a 4-wheel drive and her undercarriage wasn’t quite as low.

Steeling herself, Silversteam took off, shifting into 4-wheel drive as soon as she was able. After a few minutes, she realized it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. She had a trail that she could follow, although it was ill-marked and required all the determination she possessed, but it was still a trail. Having to make my own trail would have been infinitely worse, she decided.

After an hour of driving, she was nearly coated in muck and was close enough to where T-Ai had noticed the Preds that she had to transform and make the rest of the journey on foot so as to minimize the risk of being heard. It took another good quarter of an hour to find her quarry, but when she did it was easy to spot them. The Predacons were in a large, unnatural clearing, throwing slop this way and that with the shovels they were holding. They already had a hole a little below waist-depth.

“Keep digging!” Skybyte badgered the other three when one of them, Darkscream, stopped to take a break.

“I don’t know why we’re even doing this,” Darkscream complained.

“Fool! Megatron sensed a source of energy here! We need to find it and secure it before the Autobots find it!” exclaimed Skybyte. That was what Silversteam needed to hear. Now she needed to get away and report to Prime. The Preds wouldn’t get very far until the Build Team could make a Space Bridge extension to the site. The mud and their own digging technique were working against them, filling the hole back up almost as fast as they were emptying it. As she turned away, however, there was a loud “CLANG!” when a shovel hit something metallic.

“Hey, I found something!” cried Gasskunk. Silversteam turned back around to see Slapper move over to where Gasskunk was, and then disappeared as he knelt down.

After a moment, Slapper cried out, “It’s a ship!”

“Dig it out! Megatron will be most pleased with me!” Skybyte’s eyes became dreamy as he began to daydream out loud about how Megatron was going to reward him, etc., etc. Silversteam used this as her cue to leave.

She moved back towards the Space Bridge, careful to be quiet and not attract the attention of the Predacons. About half an hour later she was clear enough of the site to make a call back to base. “Silversteam to base.”

“T-Ai here. What is your report?”

“The Preds have made a clearing and are excavating the site. They supposedly detected an energy source there. While I was watching, Gasskunk came across an unidentified metal object in the ground. They believe it to be a ship, but I was unable to get a visual on the object.” Silversteam stood there and forced herself to remain impassive as T-Ai relayed the report to Optimus. Thankfully she only had to wait a couple of minutes before T-Ai’s voice came back on the comm. unit.

“Optimus says to return to base immediately,” piped T-Ai.

“I am on my way, T-Ai. Silversteam out.” With that, Silversteam transformed and made her way back to the Space Bridge entrance. On her way back she made a promise to herself to take a nice, thorough solvent shower when she got back. After all, she didn’t want any of this muck to permanently damage any circuitry. And besides, it wasn’t proper behavior to report in to one’s commander while covered in filth.

It was later that day. After she had reported to Optimus, he had ordered her and the two younger Autobot Brothers to go with him to fight the Predacons and secure the site for the Autobots. So that’s where they were, racing down the Global Space Bridge, Prowl flanking Prime on one side, Sideburn on the other, and Silversteam on the blue sports car’s other side, driving as close to the rail as she safely could.

Come on, girl. There’s nothing to worry about. Sideburn’s the only one close to you, and he’s not so bad, not with those red sports cars … If the others noticed her discomfiture, they didn’t show it.

Soon they exited the Space Bridge, transforming as they did so. “Oh no, it’s the Autobots!” cried one of the Predacons as they panicked in their normal fashion.

“What are you hiding here, Predacons?” demanded Optimus Prime.

“That’s none of your business, Autobot!” retorted Skybyte as the other three Predacons regrouped behind him.

“Then we’ll fight you for it,” replied Optimus as the Autobots prepped their weapons. The three Predacons behind Skybyte leapt into the air at those words.

“Right laser!” “Left laser!” “Center laser!”

The three Autobot mechs surged forward, each taking on an opponent. Optimus paired up with Skybyte, Prowl attacked Gasskunk, and Sideburn dueled it out with Slapper. That left Darkscream for Silversteam to take out. She tried to keep him at bay with her rifle and most of her first shots had hit him, but as he came closer more and more of her shots began to miss their mark. Also, as he came closer, his shots became harder to dodge. Several scorch marks on her armor could already attest to that, most notably one on her shoulder from a blast aimed at her head.

Silversteam put away her rifle. It was designed for precision over long distances, and thus was useless in what had become a short-range battle. “Center laser!” Unfortunately for Silversteam, Darkscream’s weapon could be used at short distances. She winced as a chunk was taken out of her other shoulder.

Darkscream came towards her with a fist moving towards her face. Quickly, she ducked down and kicked her leg out, hoping to knock the flying squirrel off balance; she only had partial success. Darkscream stumbled, then regained his balance and charged her again. Silversteam twisted away, trying to put more distance between herself and her opponent.

Darkscream was getting set to charge her again when Skybyte snapped out an order to retreat. The flying squirrel obeyed reluctantly, complaining that he had actually been having fun. His complaining was cut short when Silversteam whipped out her rifle once more and snapped off a single shot at his retreating back, hitting him on his tail.

Silversteam’s attention turned back to her teammates. All of them had faired better than her; the worst of their damage was the most superficial of dings and scratches. Silversteam ignored her own injuries and caught up with the others as they approached the hole that the Predacons had dug. It turned out that they had found a ship, albeit a small one. Their digging had unearthed the hatch to the inside of the ship. Optimus jumped lightly into the depression and entered a standard override code into the outside control panel. The door opened and Optimus walked in, soon followed by the other three.

The inside of the ship was eerily silent, and it was obvious that no one had been in there for several hundred years. Optimus brought up the function of the ship onto the main screen. Prowl’s face hardened and Sideburn gasped softly in shock. On the screen was the Autobot symbol, and next to it was the word, “Prisoner-4.3.69.” They had found a ship containing an Autobot gone criminal.

Finally, Optimus broke the silence. “Megatron must not be allowed to gain control of this ship and awaken its occupant, nor can we awaken him ourselves. We’ll need to set up a guard here around the clock.” None of the mechs noticed when Silversteam slipped back out the entry hatch.

It became real quiet late at night at the Autobot HQ. Most bots were either out on late-night patrol, or were indulging in some well-earned recharge time. That is why X-Brawn enjoyed working on his reports at this time. Often times he worked with the main lights off, so the only light in the room came from the computer screen and his optics. Most found this atmosphere oppressive, but X-Brawn found it comfortable. It also made it easier to focus on the reports because it makes it that much harder to see the personal items in the room that would distract him.

He had many holos in his room. One or two had been taken on Earth, but most were from Cybertron. And all were of family. They displayed moments of achievement and captured the carefree times. In some of the earlier ones, taken when Sideburn was very young or before he came online, were their parents. There was even a picture of just their parents, taken a few million years before any of the brothers were online.

He had admired his parents’ devotion to each other for as long as he could remember. They had loved each other very deeply and that love had transferred to their sons. They always gave their best to them; little that they had by the time Sideburn was around. X-Brawn knew that on some level Sideburn knew this and understood, and X-Brawn was proud of this baby brother for that.

There were days when X-Brawn had time to just sit around and think. On those occasions his thoughts inevitably turned back to his parents. Then he would wonder if he would ever meet someone that he could care for as much as his parents cared for each other. Most days it seemed nigh-impossible, a fool’s dream, yet the home remained in his spark. Besides, he had his hands full looking after his younger brothers. Sideburn had yet to burn off the ever-present enthusiastic energy of youth, and Prowl was still trying to find his real seal. X-Brawn worried for Prowl. Between how the middle brother had been when they were young, and now his … err … enthusiasm for rules … It was clear to X-Brawn and Sideburn at least that Prowl wasn’t comfortable with himself and was putting up a front to hide behind.

Currently, though, all that was on X-Brawn’s mind was the day’s report. Other concerns had to wait.

That was, until a scream echoed through the living area of the ship. X-Brawn was instantly out of his seat, and was out of his door a few nanos later. Sideburn was also in the hall, heading for the one occupied quarters set slightly apart from the rest. So it had been Silversteam. X-Brawn was torn between the desire to help a fellow Autobot and the knowledge that she wouldn’t let him help. Sideburn was the only one she let anywhere near her on a non-professional basis.

X-Brawn sighed and returned to his reports, knowing what could be done was being done.

Sideburn gently knocked on the door. “Silversteam?” It was several long moments before a faint voice allowed him to enter. When he entered he saw her sitting on her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees and her face buried. Sideburn walked over and sat next to her.

“A bad dream?”

That got a short, harsh laugh from her. “What else would cause someone to cry out like that so late at night?”

“Point. …You wanna talk about it?”

Silversteam shook her head, still not looking at the blue mech.

“C’mon, I won’t laugh or tell anyone! And you need to get it out.”

“No. Please I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even want to think about it.”

Sideburn sighed, relenting. “Alright, but I really wish you would talk to someone about it.” They both knew that somehow he was no longer referring to the dream, at least not directly. They fell silent, neither knowing what to say.

Sideburn began to squirm a little when the silence became unbearable. His CPU searched frantically for something to talk about, to fill the awful silence. “Hey, Silver? Why’d you join up?”

“I needed to.”

Sideburn frowned a little as he mulled over that cryptic remark. Why would anyone need to join the military? Well, the army does pay well … Maybe that’s why. “Do you need the money?”

The white femme laughed sadly at that. “Sideburn, if it was money I need, I could be getting ten times what the army pays for doing nothing. So no, money’s not an issue.”

“Then why did you need to join?” Silversteam just shook her head. Silence reigned once more.

This time, when the silence became too much for him, Sideburn stood up. “Well … uh … I guess I better get back to recharge … Got patrol in the morning … So … uh … Bye!” He gave a little wave before beating a hasty retreat. Silversteam nodded her head in acknowledgement, and then curled around herself again.

Prowl sat upright in front of the control panel of the prison-ship. Most of the screen was filled with a live-feed of the area surrounding the ship. In a small corner of the screen, though, was an uploaded copy of a novel, placed strategically so that Prowl could read and keep an optic on the feed simultaneously. He couldn’t shirk his duties—Primus forbid the thought!—but he couldn’t stand long periods of silence. Silence encouraged thought, and thought would bring up painful, shaming memories. Memories he wished he could forget.

But he couldn’t forget. He couldn’t forget all he had done before his parents became fed up and shipped him off to the Police Academy. He couldn’t forget the pain he put them through. He couldn’t forget the number of times he had come home and found them wondering if he’d be safe. And he couldn’t forget the look of pained resignation on their faces when he came home for the last time before the Academy. He couldn’t forget, and he’d never forgive himself.

His reading was interrupted by the beeping of the alarm. Prowl was instantly at full alert. He brought up one of the windows; it showed seven blips all converging on his position.

“Prowl to base!”

“T-Ai here, Prowl.”

“We’ve got incoming over here! Looks to be the Decepticons plus one more!”

“Understood. I’ll let Optimus know.” There was a long pause, then T-Ai came back on. “Optimus says to stay there. Reinforcements are on their way!”

“Thanks, T-Ai.”

The battle was short, but fierce. Supercharged, the Autobot Brothers took on Ruination while their leader faced off against Scourge. Then the seventh revealed himself to be Megatron instead of the normal tag-a-long Skybyte. Their combined power outmatched the determined Autobots, even when Ultra Magnus showed up and combined with his brother to form Omega Prime.

They had no choice, they had to retreat. Ultra Magnus ended up having to haul the three brothers back to Autobot HQ; they were too damaged to drive themselves and could barely transform.

Optimus was determined not to let Megatron win, though. Once back at base, he gathered up Team Bullet Train and Silversteam and took off again.

Megatron laughed. For once he was having a good day. The Autobots had been defeated, and now they had a protoform just waiting to be converted to his cause. Life could hardly get better than that.

“Scourge, as a reward for your loyalty to me and your effectiveness against the Autobots in this last battle, the new member of our group will be a Decepticon under your command.”

“Yes, Megatron.”

Megatron chuckled as he and the Decepticons arrived at a human military base. The humans yelled and attempted to drive them away with their weapons, but were quickly dealt with by the Decepticons. Quickly, Megatron reformatted the protoform’s programming with his spark, and then turned to his prized underling. “Will you do the honors?”

Scourge nodded, then carefully picked up the stasis pod. Looking around at the vehicles surrounding him, he quickly came to a decision. Swiftly, he walked over to the jets lining one side of the tarmac and activated the pod’s scanning mechanism. Bright light emerged from the pod and hit one of the jets, surrounding it. Soon the bright light retreated to simply be around the pod and intensified. Scourge let go of the pod to shield his optics from the light. When the glow faded, there stood an orange and yellow 'bot.

“State your name,” commanded Megatron.

“I am Flare.”

“Welcome, Flare. I am Megatron, leader of the Predacons. These,” he made a sweeping motion with his arm, indicating the Decepticons, “are the Decepticons, and your new teammates.” Now he motioned to Scourge. “Scourge is the team commander.”

Suddenly, there was a flash, then a loud cry of, “No!” behind them. Megatron turned around and laughed.

“You’re too late, Prime!” he crowed. “Your precious protoform is now my new soldier!”

“You will not get away with this, Megatron,” threatened Optimus.

“Oh, but I believe I already have, Optimus!” Megatron laughed. “Decepticons, attack!” The now-six Decepticon underlings surged forward, Flare a beat behind the rest. They transformed as they moved, the originals combining into Ruination and Flare taking on his new jet form for the first time. He strafed Optimus with his wing-mounted blasters, banked, and came back around for another pass.

Meanwhile, Silversteam had frozen when she had seen the new Decepticon, her optics wide. No … No … Please, no … She didn’t, couldn’t, notice the battle around her. She didn’t hear it when Team Bullet Train combined into Railracer right next to her. She was finally brought back to reality when Ruination threw Railracer, the large robot making a small earthquake when he hit the ground. Taking a deep breath, Silversteam turned to face the giant ‘Con, bringing her rifle to bear. She let loose a volley of fire, aiming for the joints and where the smaller components attached to each other.

In the end, Optimus had to call a retreat again. They had been outnumbered and overpowered. The Autobot leader didn’t like this new trend that was forming and silently vowed to himself to stop underestimating the Predacon tyrant.

It was a couple days later when the alarms went off again. “Optimus, Optimus!” cried T-Ai.

“What is it, T-Ai?” responded the Autobot Prime.

“We have another attack! A lone Decepticon in the Delta Quadrant! Initial reports suggest that it’s that new Seeker!”

“Alright, T-Ai. Who’s closest?”

“Silversteam is, sir!” To confirm, T-Ai’s battle protocol screen brought up an image of said Autobot.

“Have her intercept him and hold him off until back-up arrives. Then send X-Brawn in to assist,” commanded Optimus.

“Yes, sir!” T-Ai turned around to do just that.

Silversteam couldn’t help but wonder if she had the worst luck in the universe. Why couldn’t someone else have been near him? She wasn’t looking forward to this meeting at all. She knew that Optimus wouldn’t put her in this position if he knew…but he couldn’t know. No one could.

There was a faint explosion in the distance ahead of her and Silversteam kicked up her speed. Now she could see a column of smoke rising slowly. She honed in on the smoke, letting it lead her to her quarry.

When she approached, he was waiting for her. “Oh, only one? I would’ve thought that Optimus would’ve sent more to try to stop me. Either he’s underestimating my ability or he’s overestimating yours.” His head tilted and he frowned slightly when the Autobot transformed. “You seem familiar…”

Silversteam remained silent. She merely brought her rifle up and snapped off a shot that would have hit him dead between the optics had he not dodged. Their gazes met, his mocking, hers frozen.

“My, my, such anger. A femme such as yourself shouldn’t have such a temper. Now why don’t you put away your weapon and we’ll—” This time when she let loose a volley of shots he was unable to dodge all of them. His face turned from a handsome, if mocking, grin to a mask of anger. “You *****. You’ll pay for that!” he hissed, diving towards the femme ‘bot. She jumped out of the way, rolling into a kneeling position. Flare growled and twisted, landing feet-first on the asphalt. Then he used it as a springboard, launching himself at the white Autobot. He hit her and threw her to the pavement, pinning her down bodily. Silversteam struggled frantically to get out from underneath him, but to no avail. The orange Seeker was much stronger than her and she couldn’t break his grip.

Suddenly his optics lit up in recognition and his mocking smile returned to light up his face. “Meltpool! And to think I didn’t recognize you at first!”

“Meltpool died a long time ago, Flare,” snarled the femme. “You killed her!”

Flare smirked and was about to respond when there was the distinctive click of a weapon reading to fire, followed by a voice. “Back away from th’ lady, ‘Con,” drawled X-Brawn. Flare did as he was told, but his gaze never left Silversteam’s and his smirk never left his face. Silversteam stood slowly and picked up the rifle she had dropped sometime during the fight. X-Brawn stepped up next to her, his firearm still trained on the Seeker. Flare quickly realized that he was in a loosing position. With a jovial wave he jumped into the air, transformed, and was off.

X-Brawn and Silversteam watched him leave, one with questions and the other unwilling to answer them.

Optimus was at his desk, going over reports of recent Predacon/Decepticon activities and battles. There had to be a pattern; he just needed to find it. One thing was obvious—Megatron was relying more heavily on the Decepticons. That was not good for the Autobots. The Decepticons were more dangerous than ever. It used to be that he could send one of the teams to handle the combining portion of the group, and then take on Scourge himself. The addition of Flare to the Decepticons upset that balance of power. Now he had to send an excess of mechs, which took them away from other necessary tasks. There had to be someway to counter them, aside from calling for reinforcements. Optimus was waiting to call for reinforcements until those on Earth could find a way to accurately locate Megatron’s base.

That was another headache altogether. The Predacon tyrant’s base was mobile, and Megatron took full advantage of that fact. Anytime the Autobots caught so much as a rumor of where the Predacon’s base was, they had already moved on. To say it was frustrating was an understatement.

So Optimus was not in his best mood when X-Brawn and Sideburn came to talk to him. It did not help that they were bringing more concerns, these ones on the home front.

“I’m tellin’ ya Prime, Silversteam ain’t actin’ like herself. She kept to herself before, but not as much as she has since that new ‘Con showed up,” said X-Brawn.

“She used to talk to me,” agreed the youngest Autobot Brother. “Now she’s givin’ even me the cold shoulder!”

“I don’t know what you want to me tell you,” said the Prime. “We can’t help Silversteam unless she comes to us and informs us of a problem. Until then all we can do is wait and keep trying to get through to her. Keep an optic on her and let me know if her behavior becomes self-destructive. Dismissed.”

“It already is self-destructive,” muttered Sideburn as he and his eldest brother turned and left.

There were several more small-scale scuffles between the Autobots and Megatron’s troops. The sudden decrease in size had Optimus both baffled and worried. It troubled him that a pattern had yet to reveal itself in the attacks, and the change to smaller strike groups made the Autobot Prime believe his nemesis was planning something big. Since there was no more he could do, Optimus just kept his guard up and had his troops in tip-top shape. Then on a rainy day Optimus’ fear came true. Megatron unleashed his entire forces on a major hydro-electric dam in the southwest United States.

The alarm klaxons went off throughout Autobot HQ nanocycles before T-Ai’s voice rang over the loud speakers. “Attention! Attention! Battle Protocol for all available Autobots! I repeat: Battle Protocol for all available Autobots! Rendezvous with Optimus Prime on the Space Bridge for further instructions!” Autobots surged from their quarters, making a mad dash for the Space Bridge entrance. When all were assembled and racing down the network of roads used only by the Autobots, ‘all available’ turned out to be the Autobot Brothers, the Build Team, half of the Spychangers, and Silversteam.

“Attention men,” Optimus said as they raced along. “The Predacons are attacking the Hoover Dam. This dam supplies the electricity for both local areas and several major human cities. It must not be allowed to fall into Megatron’s hands. If it does, then it would spell disaster for the humans, for this planet, and for our planet as well. Build Team, you go after Ruination. Everyone else, distribute yourselves as you see fit. Just remember: Megatron is mine.” The rest of the group replied with a chorus of, “Yes, sir!”

All too soon the Autobots reached their destination. They practically flew out of the Space Bridge, transforming in mid-air. Humans were rushing to evacuate the area, many of them were screaming. There was a hole blasted into the side of one of the turbine generators. Suddenly shots rang out. A brightly-colored jet strafed them, flying down from the lip of the dam. Optimus shielded his face with his arms, one leg stepping back to brace himself.

“Ah, Optimus. How nice of you to come,” said Megatron as he came out of the improvised door, the rest of his troops streaming out behind him. “However, I will not allow you to take this victory from me. Predacons, attack!”

“Decepticons, attack!” At Scourge’s verbal command, the Decepticons formed Ruination. Landfill formed at the same time, and the two giants clashed, Ruination forcibly shoving his shoulder into Landfill’s torso. Hotshot, W.A.R.S., and Ironhide converged on Scourge. Flare immediately picked Silversteam out, transformed, and barreled toward her with a predatory grin. Seeing this, X-Brawn, Prowl, and Sideburn made to help her.

“No,” she told them. “I have to face Flare on my own. Go take care of the other Predacons!” Sideburn and Prowl nodded and complied, but X-Brawn hesitated.

“Are ya sure you kin handle ‘im?”

“It’s something I have to do, X-Brawn.” She looked at him, her optics pleading with him to understand. Flare laughed, spraying shots all around them. Both Autobots instinctively ducked.

“All right. You jus’ take care now, ya hear?” At Silversteam’s nod, X-Brawn ran off to join his brothers, turning that fight from 2-to-4 to 3-to-4. The silver femme turned and faced the mech that had been haunting her nightmares. “All right you *******, let’s go.”

“Such crude language from your pretty mouth! I guess I’ll have to teach you not to say such rude things about other people.” Flare grinned nastily and fired at her. She dodged, but her only clear path led her further from the other Autobots. Quickly she brought out her rifle and returned fire, and despite the Seeker’s maneuverability in the air, the femme sniper managed to get in a few good hits.

Unfortunately, the wounds angered him more than slowed him down. Snarling, he tackled her, making a grab for her weapon. Silversteam hung onto it, though, and kicked Flare in the stomach with both feet, pushing him back far enough that she was able to twist out of his grip and roll away from him. She used her momentum to roll onto her knees and peppered the area around him with plasma shots.

Flare lunged at her, his face contorted in his rage. He viciously backhanded her rifle away; it skidded and stopped near the edge of the Colorado River. Then he grabbed her shoulders and slammed her into the ground. As he loomed over her, his rage disappeared and was replaced by a charmingly handsome grin that was a sharp contrast to the iron-grip on her. “How about a kiss, sweet thing?”

“Eat slag!” Silversteam spat out, near panicking. Flare easily suppressed her struggles, his best grin still in place.

“Oh, I don’t think I will,” he replied. His grin widened as he raised one arm and shot the ground just below her rifle, sending the firearm flying into the river. Silversteam seized his momentary distraction with the speed of someone who knew that it was their last bid for freedom. She grabbed her last-resort handgun from subspace and fired it point-blank into Flare’s stomach as he was turning back to her. His grip on her weakened severely as pain shot through him, centered on the huge hole in his abdomen.

Silversteam scrambled to her feet, knocking the Decepticon onto his back at the same time. He stared up at her as she loomed over him for once, the small but powerful blaster aimed right at his spark. Their optics met and held. Several long moments passed, but neither moved. Finally, the silver femme sighed disgustedly. “You are not worth the mech fluid on my spark,” she informed him, then kicked his leg. She continued to watch him as his systems shut down and sent him into stasis lock.

Turning, Silversteam headed back to where the rest of the fighting was taking place.

“Brother, you are welcome to come back with us,” Optimus offered. Ultra Magnus seemed to have some sort of sixth sense, for he always showed up for the major fights involving the Prime. And at the end of every fight, Optimus always gave his wayward brother a chance to rejoin the Autobots. Ultra Magnus never took it. This time his response was to growl angrily and stalk back up to the highway. He transformed and drove a little ways, pulling up in front of a human woman on the side of the road. He swung his cab door open and she tossed her purse inside before climbing into his cab herself. Ultra Magnus’ door slammed shut, and he took off.

Optimus sighed and turned back to his troops. “Well done, Autobots. Now let’s roll home.” Most of the Autobots present transformed and followed their leader back into the Space Bridge. Two remained behind, however.

Silversteam walked up to the observation platform on the top of the dam and looked out over Lake Mead. The slight wind created ripples on the top of the unnatural lake. Sunlight danced off of the ripples, and she smiled at the serenity of it. Another form came up beside her and watched with her. Neither Silversteam nor X-Brawn said a word, but in that moment, neither of them needed to.

Author’s Note: Okay, just because I wrote this doesn’t mean I have to take all the credit. One, I owe a HUGE thanks to Azreal2002 because without her I would never have even created Silversteam. Also, she gave Flare his name, body, and personality when he had only been a shadow in my mind. I knew what he had done, and she made him what he is. Also, I have to give thanks to both of my editors, Sapphire and Tiger5913. Thanks you both!! ^_^ Finally, need to thank Wayward for making this contest, which finally got me back writing!

Disclaimer: I only own Silversteam, Flare, the plot, and any histories I made up for the characters. The closest I come to owning the main characters is I have toys. Yup, that’s about it.