The stars rippled.
Out of the void, a shadow emerged, sharp, angular, silent in its menace. The Nemesis had arrived.
In orbit above Earth, its hull shimmered black against the faint glow of the planet's curve. The vast Decepticon warship hovered like a beast in still waters, its engines pulsing low, reverberating through the quiet expanse of space. Inside, tension buzzed in the command bridge, coiled and waiting.
Megatron stood at the helm.
His red optics glinted as data flickered across a massive projection screen. A faint signal pulsed from below. It was residual and decaying, but still unmistakable.
"The relic," he muttered, claws curling around the edge of the console. "It was here."
Behind him, Soundwave worked wordlessly, hands gliding over alien controls. The screen sharpened.
"Source confirmed," he said, voice modulated. "Signal traces originate from beneath Earth's ocean crust. Location: southern trench, uncharted ruins."
Megatron's jaw clenched.
"Take us down."
The sky above the Pacific tore open with fire.
Decepticon drop-pods screamed through the atmosphere, burning trails into the night before vanishing beneath the waves. Deep below, in the black pressure of the ocean, ancient structures shivered.
The ruins of the Atlanteans.
Columns carved from obsidian stone, arches laced with bioluminescent veins — remnants of a civilization so advanced, Earth had forgotten they ever existed. Here, cloaked from the surface, the Decepticons landed.
Water displaced like thunder.
Megatron touched down, his feet crushing coral and sediment beneath centuries-old mosaics. Soundwave and a squad of Seekers followed behind him, scanners humming, feeding real-time data into their neural systems.
Everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
And then, Soundwave's display flared.
"Relic energy signature located. Confirmed extraction. Departure timestamp: recent."
Megatron froze. His optics narrowed as the meaning registered.
"They… took it?" His voice dropped, barely more than a growl. "The relic… is no longer here?"
"Affirmative," Soundwave said.
For a moment, the sea around them seemed to hold its breath.
Then came the fury.
With a roar that shook the chamber walls, Megatron slammed his fist into the remains of the Atlantean command dais. Stone exploded outward. Fractures raced through the floor like cracks in ice.
"They dared to move it without us knowing?!"
Seawater surged and swirled with the force of his anger. Debris floated in silence around them.
"Whoever took it," he hissed, "will suffer for their defiance."
Far above, beyond Earth's pull, the Atlantean vessel coasted through the stars.
Inside the bridge, Aeloria stood alone before the relic chamber. The relic floated in the center of the room, encased in energy, its surface smooth and glowing with a shifting blue light.
But something was wrong.
The light flickered.
She reached toward it, her fingertips pausing just shy of the energy field. The hum, which was once almost melodic, now stuttered. Behind her, Talin entered quietly, his expression unreadable.
"It's behaving differently," he said.
"It's being… watched," Aeloria whispered. "As if something reached out."
Talin stepped beside her, his voice low. "You think they've found us?"
"I don't know. But something has noticed."
The relic pulsed again, this time sharper. A warning, maybe. Or a signal.
Aeloria didn't answer. Her thoughts were far ahead, out in the void, where shadows could move freely. The stars felt suddenly closer. And colder.
Back on Earth, the ocean churned.
Kaelis, one of the Atlanteans who had chosen to stay, moved cautiously through the outer ring of the ruins. His equipment glowed softly in the dark water, tracking the last data nodes from the launch.
He didn't see them coming.
The current shifted unnaturally. Bubbles spiraled. He turned, just in time, to glimpse glowing red eyes through the murk.
Then pain.
A sharp pulse hit his chest, knocking the air from his lungs. He collapsed in the water, body limp, as Soundwave stepped forward and disabled his gear.
Kaelis gasped, floating, unable to swim or flee.
Megatron approached slowly, the way a predator sizes up a stunned animal.
"You were left behind," he said. "Why?"
Kaelis winced. "We… chose to stay."
Megatron leaned closer.
"Where did they go?"
Kaelis said nothing. His silence was answer enough.
The Decepticon leader's voice dropped to a whisper.
"You know. I can feel it in your hesitation."
He gestured. Soundwave deployed a probe, extending it to Kaelis' temple.
"Extract the data. Leave nothing untouched."
Back aboard the Nemesis, the command bridge flickered to life again. A new projection stretched across the viewing window, a faint trail of energy, fragile but traceable.
It led away from Earth. Into deep space.
Soundwave nodded.
"Trajectory confirmed. Estimated destination: outer system. Unregistered coordinates."
Megatron said nothing for a moment.
Then he turned to face the stars.
"Let them run."
His voice was cold. Final.
"They carry what belongs to us. And they lead us to their last breath."
He turned toward the command crew, his posture tall and charged.
"Prepare for pursuit. Ready the war pods. Alert all divisions! We are leaving Earth. And when we arrive…"
He raised one clawed hand as the stars began to shift.
"…they will know why even the oceans cannot hide them."
n the silence of the galaxy, the Nemesis turned its engines toward the void, chasing the trail of the relic like blood on water. Behind them, the Earth fell away, unaware of the storm rising.
And far ahead, aboard the Atlantean ship, the relic pulsed again.
Watching.
Waiting.