Things at the Ark were uneventful, just like Prowl promised Optimus Prime before the Autobot leader departed for Greece on Skyfire. In fact, Prowl made sure that everything operated smoothly and efficiently within the base, and he even organized some maintenance checks on the Ark's systems and Teletraan I. As the second-in-command reasoned, they had to take advantage of the fact that the Decepticons weren't much of a threat for the present.
Of course, there were those Autobots who didn't agree with Prowl's reasoning at all, and they tried to avoid taking up the errands the tactician had in store for them. They failed miserably though.
"Inferno, couldn't we just--?" Sunstreaker started.
"No," the fire truck replied dryly.
"But there's this thing that we…" Sideswipe insisted.
"The answer's still 'No'. Prowl gave ya an order, and I'm here to make sure ya follow it," Inferno said and held up his nozzle. "If ya have any further objections, I'll have ta… cool ya down. Any questions?"
"You made yourself crystal clear," Powerglide said with a sigh. He resumed with unclogging the plumbing system underneath the washracks, muttering under his breath something that could be translated as: "Where did all this mud come from anyway?"
"This is ridiculous!" Sideswipe exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. The wet scrub he was holding splashed water in every direction at that motion, but the red Lamborghini didn't care about that at present. "What's the point of cleaning the washracks when they'll just get dirty again in the next couple of hours?"
"What's the point of drinkin' energon if you'll just get hungry again?" Inferno countered. "Now carry on. The less ya complain, the more work you'll do."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Sideswipe pointed out wryly. "How come Prowl, Smokescreen, Trailbreaker, Ironhide and Red Alert aren't down here, sharing the joy with the rest of the jolly crew?"
Inferno shrugged. "Red said the five of them would be in the control room on a meeting. That's all."
"Great. It seems like everyone's having fun," Sunstreaker said sarcastically, hammering back in place several metal plates that barely hung on the wall.
------------------
"Red, I understand your concern," Prowl said. He was sitting on a chair, facing the security chief with quite the serious expression. "However, Wheeljack has already said that the installation of a security camera inside the volcano is seriously impractical. The heat would damage any cameras we place there after a period of time."
"Didn't Perceptor come up with any new heat-resistant alloys that would fix that problem?" Red Alert asked.
"If he did, he never informed me," Prowl answered. "Besides, even if there was such an alloy, we would have to readjust and reroute several power lines so that the camera remained online at all hours – an unwise thing. It would be preferable to keep as much energy as possible on the main areas of the Ark, since they're more susceptible to an attack."
"Which reminds me," Ironhide said, leaning forward on his own chair. "Grapple and Hoist contacted me just now. They found several guns and cannons out of order while doin' a maintenance check on the outside perimeter."
"So the Ark is even more vulnerable than we thought," Smokescreen said thoughtfully. "Until Wheeljack returns to fix them, I suggest an increase of patrols around the base."
"The Dinobots can do that," Trailbreaker said, "They won't even let a fly pass."
"Agreed," Prowl said with a nod before turning to Red Alert once again. "Meanwhile, you and Huffer will have to make a maintenance check on the surveillance systems. If there's any problem, I want to know about it at once."
"Of course," Red Alert replied, already opening his communication frequencies to contact Huffer.
"Good," the tactician replied and faced Ironhide. "Now, as for the training drills you've proposed, I think we can…"
"Attention. Attention. Incoming transmission from Optimus Prime," Teletraan I's voice cut in.
The officers stood up at once at the news. "On screen," Prowl instructed, holding his door panels proudly behind his back.
Teletraan I complied, and the image of Optimus Prime appeared on the monitor.
"Prowl, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Prime," Prowl answered. "Ironhide, Red Alert, Smokescreen and Trailbreaker are here as well."
"That's good to know," Optimus said, his smile audible in his voice. "I trust things have been quiet in the Ark this past week?"
"Too quiet, actually," Ironhide said, "My circuits are itchin' for a good fight."
"I'm sure they are, old friend," Optimus said, laughing. "However, that will have to wait. I called to tell you that the mission at the Greek Islands was successful and we're currently returning to the Ark. We should be back in a quarter of an hour or so."
"Understood, Prime," Prowl replied. "Did you find out who sent those alien orbs?"
"That and a lot more, Prowl. That is why you'll have to gather all the Autobots in the control room," Optimus said. "I want to debrief you as soon as Skyfire lands."
"It will be done."
"Thank you, Prowl. Optimus out."
"See you in fifteen minutes, Prime. Prowl out." The tactician answered and ended the transmission.
"And a lot more?" Trailbreaker wondered aloud. "What did Prime mean by that?"
"I suppose we'll find out soon enough," Prowl said. Pressing a button on the control panel, the tactician activated Teletraan I's speakers.
"Attention. All available Autobots please proceed to the main control room. Drop everything."
"With pleasure!" Sideswipe's voice sounded through another transmission, followed closely behind by the sound of a wet scrub landing unceremoniously on the floor.
-----------------
All the Autobots in the Ark complied with Prowl's command. In less than fifteen minutes, everyone was in the main control room, whispering amongst themselves as they tried to figure out what was going on.
"From what I gather, Optimus and the others are coming back," Hoist whispered to Grapple and Inferno. "I heard Red Alert say something like that just a few moments ago."
"That was one heck of a quick trip then," Inferno commented, "It's been barely a week since they left fer the Greek Islands."
"Nevertheless, they're coming back."
"I guess that means we'll get to know what those orbs were trying to detect," Skids said in a thoughtful manner, overhearing the conversation.
"Well, I hope we get to know soon," Gears muttered, "All this standing up is paining my joints."
"Do you think they got us any souvenirs from Greece?" Sideswipe wondered aloud, tapping his chin as though thinking.
"Who cares? As long as Prime gets back and says I don't have to clean water pipes anymore, I'll be one happy mech," Powerglide murmured.
"Besides, I doubt they could bring anything as good-looking as this," Sunstreaker declared with a grin, striking a majestic pose.
Sideswipe sniggered at that, while the rest of the Autobots just shook their heads.
"Hey, guys, I think I can hear Skyfire," Huffer said in that moment.
Sure enough, the sound of the Valkyrie's engines soon reverberated through the Ark. Prowl stiffened instinctively, holding his doors high behind his back in readiness to welcome Prime back.
Red Alert, on the other hand, stiffened for different reasons. The detectors on his helm flashed brightly.
"Prowl, I'm picking up a strange energy signal," he said softly.
The tactician's optics reflected his frowning expression. "Is it a Decepticon one?"
"No," Red Alert replied, "It's different. More powerful than any other signal I know."
"Could it be an alien one?" Smokescreen asked, regarding the other two officers curiously.
"It's the most logical answer," Prowl answered with a nod. "Other than that though, your guess is as good as mine."
It was then that all the Autobots heard their companions' footsteps coming closer. Everyone stood in attention, knowing that the first one to enter the control room would be Optimus Prime. But their sensors also picked up the strange signal Red Alert sensed moments before, and none of them could understand what it could be. They just hoped it didn't mean trouble.
They got their answer when Optimus Prime and the rest of the group finally walked in. Though everyone saluted Optimus, their gaze shifted instead to the humanoid creature that was between Perceptor and Skyfire. She – for the alien definitely looked like a female – had flesh-like hands and face, with short blond bangs, a small nose and full red lips. She was as tall as an average Cybertronian, and almost all of her body was covered in an organic black material. But the most peculiar thing about her was her eyes. They resembled a human's at first glance, but they were missing the characteristic black pupil, seeming like a pair of bright green orbs.
"Now that's what I call odd," Powerglide whispered before he could help it.
"You can say that again," Hoist answered just as quietly.
Her thin eyebrows twitched to a subtle frown, a clear sign that she heard both Autobots. Still, she didn't say anything. She simply stood next to Perceptor, keeping her expression neutral while Optimus made the introductions.
"Autobots, this is Faera, a Sadjen. She's the one the alien orbs were trying to locate, for one of her own people wishes to see her dead. More than that, the Decepticons were also interested in her, believing that they could use her as a weapon against us. Fortunately, we found her first, and she helped us when the other Sadjen and Megatron joined forces. Because of that, it's time for us to repay the favour."
"Is Prime going to say what I think he's going to say?" Red Alert murmured close to Smokescreen, slightly alarmed.
"I bet he is," Smokescreen replied, his optics locked on the Sadjen.
"Autobots," Prime continued, "I want you to welcome Faera within our ranks, for she's agreed to help us on our war with the Decepticons. That means you'll have to help her settle in the Ark as comfortably as possible. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Prime," all the Autobots answered in unison.
"Good," Optimus said, smiling kindly underneath his mask. "Autobots, dismissed."
As everyone went back to their chores, talking and commenting about the new addition in the team, the Autobot leader turned to Bumblebee. "You'd better take the Witwickys back to their home, Bumblebee. The trip was long and they'll need rest in order to get over their jet lag."
"Right, Optimus," the yellow minibot replied and transformed to his Beetle mode. The Witwickys entered Bumblebee with a small nod of thanks toward Optimus, since they were too tired to say much else. Once they'd put their seat belts on, Bumblebee drove out of the Ark and out of sight.
"Jazz," the Autobot leader said, this time facing the saboteur, "I want you to escort Faera and show her the Ark."
"Sure thing, Prime."
"And then you'll have some rest too," Ratchet added, looking hard at Jazz. "You're still recovering, don't forget that."
"It will take more than Megatron's fusion cannon to offline me, doc," Jazz replied, grinning. "Then again, I know better then going against your orders."
"So all those years of beating some sense into you with a wrench have finally paid off," Ratchet deadpanned and beckoned Mirage to follow him to the repair-bay so that he could fix the spy's cloaking device.
Jazz just chuckled, then motioned a wary-looking Faera to walk with him. Prowl, Ironhide and the other officers, on the other hand, stayed as though rooted on the spot, regarding Optimus Prime in a curious manner.
"Prime, I believe a more thorough debriefing is in order," Prowl suggested.
"Indeed," Optimus agreed. "That's why I want you to step into my office for a few moments. It won't take long."
The officers exchanged a glance at that, but they complied. They were curious to hear what Optimus had to say.
"Home, sweet home," Sparkplug declared with a sigh, resting his back on the co-driver's seat inside Bumblebee. "I'll be sleeping for a week."
"You and I both," Spike agreed. "I'm glad that the whole thing's over, at least."
"I don't know, Spike. I think it's only begun," Bumblebee's voice sounded from the dashboard. "We have Faera now, remember?"
"Are you saying she's going to be a problem?" Spike asked in surprise. "So she'll be out of her depth for a couple of days. She'll adjust, right?"
"Spike, Faera is already starting out with one major drawback: she's not an Autobot. She's not even a Cybertronian," Sparkplug pointed out. "Granted, she saved Bumblebee's life and Optimus accepted her as a new recruit, but that doesn't mean anything."
"She'll have to gain the other Autobots' trust," the teen said, catching on.
"Yup," Bumblebee said. "And something tells me it's not gonna be easy… for both parties."
"And this is the spare parts' storage room," Jazz said. He punched the enter code so that Faera could have a peek through the open door.
The Sadjen leaned forward in a cautious manner, craning her neck to get a closer look.
"That's a lot of spare parts," she said. Indeed, the room was filled up to the roof with all kinds of plating, gears and consoles that were vital to a Cybertronian's functions.
"Yeah, and we need every last one of them," Jazz replied. "It makes Ratchet's job easier."
She nodded her understanding. "It must be difficult for one mech to tend to all of you."
"Believe me, it used to be even more difficult. Now he has First Aid to help him, and there's always Wheeljack, Perceptor and Hoist who can lend a hand if there's an emergency," Jazz said and closed the door with a smile. "So… shall we continue on?"
"Sure," she said, rewarding the saboteur with a polite smile of her own.
Jazz charmingly offered his arm like a gentleman escort should, a gesture that surprised Faera. She regarded the saboteur for a few moments, contemplated matters, then finally wrapped her arm around his, very much like a lady.
A very guarded lady at that. Though her expression revealed no such thing, Jazz could feel the warm flesh-like fingers twitching, especially when they passed by Grapple and Skids. The two Autobots certainly didn't mean it, nevertheless they stared at the Sadjen in a not-so-subtle manner.
As soon as Grapple and Skids turned around the corner, Jazz turned to Faera. "You don't like the attention, do you?" he asked.
She relaxed a bit, a good sign. "Not really," she admitted. "It feels strange being surrounded by others after all this time."
Jazz admitted to himself that that made sense. Back in Santorini, Faera had to live on her own, as far away from prying eyes as possible. Now not only she was out in the open after years of isolation, she had to get used to the fact that she would be part of a large, unfamiliar faction.
Well, Jazz figured, the sooner she gets to know the place, the sooner she'll adjust. So, both saboteur and the Sadjen continued on with the tour, the one guiding and the other following.
That was something that tired Jazz though. Soon, he felt a dull pain in his midsection, discomfiting his movements.
Man, Ratchet wasn't kiddin' when he said I needed rest.
Still, Jazz intended to complete the tour, and thus kept a pleasant face in spite of everything.
It was in vain though. She finally stopped and looked at him in concern.
"Your wound is giving you trouble, isn't it?" she asked. "The sound of your breathing has changed."
"Yeah… I guess I overestimated my strength," Jazz admitted. He had forgotten that Faera's senses were in many ways sharper than a Cybertronian's, so she could pick up anything that didn't sound right. "But don't sweat it," he added as he saw her frowning, "We're getting' close to the common room. We can rest there for a while."
"Common room?" Faera echoed.
"Oh, yeah… Everyone's favourite room," Jazz answered, a big grin forming on his lip components. "It's where we hang out when we're off duty."
"I see," Faera said. "So what do you do there?"
Jazz half-shrugged. "Whatever we like. We have our daily energon rations there, we play games, we talk… We even throw parties when the occasion calls for one."
"Parties?" She pondered on that for a second. "You mean like celebrations?"
"Well, yeah. Didn't you have those back at your home?" Jazz asked, his turn to feel perplexed.
She shook her head. "It was against our ways."
Now Jazz knew that that wouldn't do. "We'll just have to remedy that then," he declared. He winced when he noticed the Sadjen's expression clouding, though.
"Uh… I hope I didn't offend you," he said apologetically.
"You didn't," she said at once. "I simply realised that there are a lot of things I have to learn."
Jazz understood.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to life in the Ark in no time."
The words barely flowed out of the saboteur's lips when the door to the common room hissed open. And the moment he and Faera stepped inside, about a dozen pair of optics instantly locked curiously on the Sadjen.
"I suppose I'll have to get used to the stares first," Faera said under her breath.
"Yeah, can't do anythin' about that," Jazz agreed just as softly. He scanned the room and pointed to his left. "Come on, I can see an empty table at the corner there."
----------------
Optimus sat at his desk, keeping his arms crossed and waiting patiently for any of the other officers to speak. None of them said a word while the Autobot leader recounted the Santorini incident, and Optimus didn't know what to think. He simply hoped for the best.
It was Prowl who finally broke the silence.
"We need to put her abilities to the test. If we're to place her in a position among the Autobot ranks, we'll need to assess her strengths and weaknesses first."
"Understood," Optimus said. "Ironhide, you'll test her fighting skills."
"You got it, Chief," the veteran Autobot said.
"Trailbreaker, you will assess her scouting abilities."
"Okay."
"Smokescreen, you'll do a psychological profile on her."
"Of course," the blue Datsun said.
"Red Alert, you'll observe and record everything from the monitors."
"Yes, Prime."
"Prowl, I'll leave it up to you to organise everything accordingly."
Prowl nodded his acknowledgement. "I'll give you the results by the end of the week."
"Very well. You can start at your leisure. Meanwhile, I'll contact the mayor of Portland to let him know of Faera's presence. The last thing we need is humans panicking at the sight of her."
"Now that would be a familiar scenario," Smokescreen noted dryly.
"Except she doesn't look the robot-in-disguise type," Ironhide added.
"Indeed," Optimus said. "Dismissed."
Most of the officers nodded their acknowledgement and walked out, talking amongst themselves. Prime heard Trailbreaker comment something to the likes of: "Well, Sideswipe got his souvenir", but he decided not to say anything about that. He focused on Prowl instead, because his second-in-command didn't get up from his seat. In fact, it was obvious that there was something troubling him.
Neither of them spoke, waiting patiently till they were left alone. As soon as the door closed behind Red Alert, Optimus knew that he could talk to Prowl without being interrupted.
"So what was it so important that you didn't want the others to hear?" he asked.
Prowl shook his head. "I was hoping you would tell me."
"What do you mean?"
"Prime, you've already stated that Sadjens are virtually indestructible. If the second one is still with Megatron, like you suspect, that makes Faera our only defence against him."
"Affirmative," Optimus said. "That was why she offered her services."
Prowl regarded Optimus intently. "Prime, I've rarely seen you so willing to place such trust on someone you hardly know," he said. "What made the difference this time?"
Ah… so now we come down to it.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, Prowl," Optimus answered. "All I can say is that she's trusted me with something important. The least I can do is show her the same amount of trust."
Prowl's expression became thoughtful as the tactician pondered on the answer. In the end, though, he seemed satisfied, for he stood and bowed slightly his head.
"It's good enough for me. I'll see to it that she faces no problems while in the Ark."
"I was hoping you'd say that," the Autobot leader replied. "Thank you, my friend."
Prowl just smiled a bit and exited. He had to make all the proper arrangements for the newcomer.
------------------
"Are you feeling stronger now?" Faera asked, regarding Jazz curiously as she walked beside him once again.
"Yeah. Like I said, I just needed a break," Jazz answered. "I'm surprised you didn't want anythin' to eat, though. I figured you'd be starvin' by now."
She laughed. "I don't get hungry that easily. Besides, I'd rather wait for sunrise."
"Oh? Why's that?"
Faera didn't answer this time. She stopped on her tracks and sniffed the air, clearly smelling something. Jazz stopped too, not sure what the problem was.
"The scent of sulphur is stronger here. We're close to the volcano, aren't we?"
Jazz smiled before he could help it. "You're good. It's that way," he said, pointing to his left.
"Can we go there?" she asked.
"Sure thing," the saboteur answered, showing her the way. In a matter of minutes, they were standing at the edge of a loft, looking at the rocky walls of the volcano. The dark sienna surface glistened under the dim light of the rising moon.
"What do you think?" Jazz said.
Faera stepped closer to the edge, her eyes scanning the wall meticulously.
"It will do," she said with a smile and jumped over the chasm.
Alarmed, Jazz got ready to use his grappling hook to catch her, but she simply grabbed onto a ledge across from the loft and pulled herself upwards. Jazz watched her as she examined the ledge further, noticing that it was wide enough to fit her like a protective cocoon.
"Wait…" Jazz said, realisation catching up with him. "You're plannin' on sleepin' there?"
She turned around, looking at Jazz quite perplexed. "Why not?"
He frowned. "We're not out in the open. You could use one of our spare berths."
"I'll be fine. It's no different from my den in Santorini," she said with a shrug.
But different from your home, I take it, Jazz thought, noticing her choice of words. Nevertheless, he decided to indulge her for now. "Okay, if you say so. But let me know if you change your mind."
"I will," she promised. She laid down on her side, using her arm as a headrest. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Jazz said. He turned on his heel and was about to walk out, when Faera's voice stopped him.
"Jazz?"
He faced her again, seeing that she propped herself on her elbow to look at him. "Yeah?"
"Thank you for the company. I appreciate it."
"Oh." He smiled. "You're welcome. Talk to you tomorrow."
And with that he left, heading towards his own dorms. It was time for some proper recharge.