He was starving.

Even as he nodded along to Navi's reports, his own analyses, and the cheery faces of his crew around him, Lio Convoy couldn't keep his mind off his gut. The sudden, unremitting ache that had decided to take up residence there. Growing and gnawing, like a frantic little animal. Lio pressed a hand over his taut belly, a broad black digit kneading at it like an itch. It was … odd. Unfamiliar. Unlike the hunger that he had experienced since hatchlinghood. The commander shook his head firmly, pressed himself up in his chair with powerful arms, and surveyed his crew.

Apache was busying himself at his controls, popping energon-fashioned mango cubes into his mouth and chewing meditatively. Behind him, squinting at his own controls and then leaning back and twisting at his horns in bewilderment was Big Horn. Convoy couldn't help but warm to the other guy's plight. Though a most venerable warrior, the buffalo-former was no academic. He still fumbled with the most trivial of reports, so much so that Lio Convoy would often give in and finish them with him, had the others not opted to first. It just worked that way. The YukiKaze Unit was a team. Nobody wanted their selfless leader in a hot seat when it came to answering his own superiors back on Cybertron.

Yet, even as the strapping firebrand Maximal sweated and blundered over his work, he was munching on something, his semi-organic cheeks flexing and ballooning as he chewed his meal over and over, metal teeth working like a grinder and sounding so. Convoy glanced away, trying to switch off from the noise, and trying doubly not to associate it with his own anxious gut.

He stared down at Navi's main control unit, tapping at the unseen keys with half a spark before he turned a fleeting look to Kid. The Commander kneaded his azure brow, and then his silver visor in frustration as his second youngest recruit gnawed on his own energon formation, or what remained of it. The artificial bone splintered with a dry crack, allowing the troublemaker to lap at the marrow within like it was some exclusive, top-of-the-range oil.

When his attention returned to his own control panel, the Lion-former tilted his head. Before him, draped over his console like some grizzly offering, was a thick fillet of red steak. A droplet of blood spattered on his pure white thigh. His gut gave a low sigh.

It had never struck him before he had ventured to planet Gaia, how absolutely delectable that foul fare could seem. The red meat, the way it glistened like a precious gem as the YukiKaze lights beat down on it, raw flesh slick with blood. There it lay, alone and unheeded on the console like a ruby in a bed of silver. Only, there was no longer a console. It was only the meat and his need. He moved towards it; questioning it, doubting it, wanting it so badly. In inner sensors craved it; they demanded to be fed. Convoy watched his hand extend just as one would watch themselves as they dream, ebony fingers ready to touch it and bring the artificial meat, brimming with angelmois nutrients, to his seeking maw…

But sharp ivories got to it first. A young lion with warm ochre fur, and a dark barbed mane grinned at him, the meat clutched in his jaw. He turned and dashed away, across grassland, stirring the pasture. Convoy barely stopped to wonder why the setting had changed or why he was so hungry – he was set on his meal. He couldn't bear the ache any longer. He narrowed his eyes, pacing after the errant animal, which had placed the steak down with surprising tenderness, pushing it towards him with a dark nose only to yank it back, arching shoulders playfully.

The beast within Convoy didn't want to play.

He could see his crew, now Scuba and Diver, Santon and Skywarp joining them, brimming with energy, happily partaking of their own meals, selfishly leaving their Commander barren and starved, allowing this young beast to mock him and deny him what was rightfully his. How dare they? He was alpha; he was to feed first--!!

Lio Convoy was a prisoner in his own body, thinking those thoughts, sensing their hostility, and how strange and alien those feelings were to him. He watched as a young Maximal tossed the steak up into the air and caught it, waving the thick hunk of meat at the beast that was once his idol, his ruby eyes grinning as he teased.

His body was no longer his, his arms lifted by their own will, a sturdy fist ploughing through something that was blood and electricity. Knots of wires, artificial flesh, and shredded cable oozed over the golden shards of his arm as it buried itself deeper into the yielding flesh of his youngest cadet's chest, violet ooze whipped by strands of electricity before curdling below Maximal feet that no longer touched the ground. Convoy's stolen eyes stared at the world around him. Apache, Bighorn, Kid, Diver and Scuba… their faces were fraught, their own victuals forgotten, and then golden eyes locked on Lio Junior's, catching the wilful spirit that soon faded as the youth's spark flickered out, leaving the world in darkness.

***

The Maximal commander almost ripped free of his recharge binds as he woke, staring all around him, optics surging with power, widening with a blinding luminosity as stats flickered within them. Soon, as he allowed reality back into his existence, he settled. His semi-organic chest seemed to rise and fall, although in his current form he did not need to filter air in such a way.

Just a dream, huh? Yeah…

He scanned the room through half-lidded eyes, waiting for the mechanical straps to snap him free. A small computer screen bobbed before him, like some bizarre land jellyfish.

"Good morning, commander!" the cheery voice of the Yukikaze personality drive sang, "Time: 10:07am, Temperature: 30 °C, 0.23 CT years into operation Angelmois fortification, 4608 cycles without negative Destron activity, and the day is looking peachy-sweet!"

"Thank you, Navi-chan," Convoy answered kindly, watching as the petite flying computer frolicked in the air around him. He suddenly felt caged and hot, a consequence of his new body maybe, forced to feel the heat and the chill was a slagging pain at times. Yet they had installed a fine ventilation system, so… the heat should not have been a problem. He turned to find each recharge area was empty. His sensors flushed, recalling how often recently he had been arriving later than his cadets to morning shift, unless he had pulled one of his infamous all-nighters out searching for Destron Scent, or stepping up negotiations and well-wishes between their new Insecticon allies. He leaned back broad arms, arching out a powerful chest and a chiselled row of abs as he stretched, unconsciously letting out a soft sigh of a Lion's growl as he did so.

It was when he stepped off his recharge pod, clawed feet touching ground, that a sudden ache came to him. Just as his dream, it balled in his gut, no, just below it. As he walked, that unexpected niggle became a dull growl. Something that was not quite hunger, but ravenous still, something that was not quite pain but somehow agonising. The lion-former gripped the main recharge console, clutching it tight in his hand as waves of heat hit him down there. Slag it, what was that? Some organic malfunction that he hadn't yet experienced? He suckered in several breathes of the air within the bay, too focused on calming his body to pick up that new, heady scent all around him. He would have Navi examine him once he saw to his unit. He could wait. He forced himself forward, and paced down the dimly-lit bridge from the bay to the control wing. Apache would be in the control room, as always. He was a good soldier, and a dear friend. Lio's heart lightened as he began to walk with more purpose. He also wanted to see Junior's face. It was stupid, but… he just had to. Just to be sure that his dream was merely that. The ache dimmed its pulse but gained angry warmth.

The commander tried to turn his mind to other matters. Destron activity was at a new low, but that didn't mean they had to be any less cautious… the heat burned in his crotch now, swelling as he walked… That devil Galvatron would be simmering, and a seething pot would burn all around it if wasn't watched… Lio's hands moved down to his groin, fingering the cybertronic sheath there, feeling the desire of what lay beneath. He strained to pull back his hands, throwing back against the wall, glaring down at his sheath as if daring it to call him again.

"What's wrong with me…" He breathed, kneading the back of his broad neck as his clawed feet issued clangs each time they fell.

It took him longer than expected to get to the control room, and before he walked in, he righted himself, clenching powerful arms at his side and jutting out his chest; a picture of control, and then strutted in. He needn't have bothered. Amidst the low hum of the sleeping ship, not a soul was to be seen. The occasional 'blip' of Navi's pulse was his only company, and the commander's optics blinked. How odd… he had been certain that he had sensed more life in here than Navi-chan…

He moved on into another branch of YukiKaze – the barracks. He began to strain, daring not to touch his sheath, the yellow compartment threatening to spring open if he did. He'd never lacked such control before. It was unsettling. What of his crew? Were they experiencing the same… embarrassing conflict? He growled, the gruff sound rumbling deep within him. Or perhaps they had met with a different kind of conflict. One more dangerous. Destrons.

Golden eyes flashed with alarm, and he was about to transform before a high-pitched cry caught him mid-action. He turned at once in the direction of the sound. It led him into one of the Yukikaze space canopies, and he paced out, the sliding doors giving a low hiss as they opened up for him.

"Take it easy, Kid--!" Diver whined pushing at the bronzed Maximal before him, stretching a long white leg to send the other flying back. Kid only barked laughter, and pinned his pallid partner down again, rolling over as Diver reversed the hold gamely, chuckling in return, "You're getting too rough!"

Lio Convoy felt at once at ease, and his eyes smiled. They were safe and in high spirits. That was enough for him. He soon halted, his sensors picking up something other than mere camaraderie on the open air. He narrowed his optics.

As they wrestled, Kid and Diver, their bodies buckled together, hips rising and then grinding down again. Their unsheathed cocks glistened between them, a faint glow coursing through each rock-hard rod as the two friends ground and tussled together. Trying to get each other off. Convoy's grip on the railings hardened enough to puncture the metal, and he knelt, rooted. Never once had he caught any of his crew interfacing… Out in the open like this. What… The strapping commander found his fingers flexing near his sheath, fixed on the two horny soldiers below. With the transformation, everything seemed to have altered… where a sabre had once glowed and arched was a more fleshly shaft, throbbing and glistening with white, near transparent oil. Golden eyes widened as a similar lubricant began to seep from the clasps of his sheath, and Convoy's fists tightened in manful frustration. Slag… slag it!!

"Ne, you sh-shOULD ss-settle down, a-and leave me alone…" Diver teased as he gripped Kid's shoulders and held him down, his pink meat sliding against the one beneath, "I have work to do, you know?" The bracing arms lifted, and began to trace every contour of the younger transformer's body, skipping over the dangerous line of fangs across Kid's chest and abs, only to nip at the centre of the tanned pecs, sliding a knot of wires free, and then tugging them upwards.

Kid arched, gritting newly acquired teeth in a wet and moist jaw, his blue eyes watered, "Sh-shut up… don't be such a bastard, okay?" he pouted, but grinned all the same, clutching a hand over both slick cocks and almost crushing them together. The two groaned and gasped, experimenting with those new, semi-organic bodies, forced unwittingly by wickedness to learn. It wasn't so different. Instinct taught them more than words or charts ever could, "'Sides…" Kid licked his lips, looking up at the usually timid frog-former before him, "I didn't start it, right?"

He leaned up, getting on level with the other soldier, and locked his mouth over Diver's, beginning yet another intense conflict. Lio Convoy observed that unfamiliar kiss. Watching the slick wet tongues working together, battling like eels struggling for rights to a cavern, Kid clutching the back of Diver's neck and forcing himself in. Unlike the kisses he had once shared with his lost sweetheart, Alita 1; an intricate charge of shared energy that would spark between their mouthpieces, this was far different, somehow primitive, but… Kid leaned back, breaking contact for just a moment to allow barbs of electricity, like lavender strands, to crackle between them. Diver whined as his mouth was mercilessly, gloriously plundered, both of them feverish as they thrusted against each other's need, their swollen shafts dripping pearls as their muffled cries filled the air.

Diver's lengthy arms travelled down, giving the other guy's tail a rough yank only to clutch at the mahogany orbs beneath, searching.

Soft, rumbling growls issued from the depths of Lio Convoy's chest as he looked on, watching the pert bodies grind together, watching as Diver's sucker-tip fingers explored the port of the other former's aft, rubbing a duo over the throbbing opening as he was continually speared by Kid's tongue and meat, feverish gasps shrill and sharp over their unseen commander's raw purrs.

The beast within the autobot commander roared in his skull. 'Look at them, Lio.'

He did.

' So weak yet so ready.'

Golden eyes narrowed to slits as he observed the hasty slaps of the cadets' hips as they slammed up against each other. That sound alone was driving him wild.

' How easily you could take them both now… tug them apart and steer them towards your own need…'

Yeah… That's right. Lay them down and pound into them with all his pent-up desire.

He could do it, too.

He was their alpha, after all.

They were his pride.

The steady, calm purrs rose to growls that could only be predatory, and that fierce hostility awakened both Kid and Diver, and they looked up into the balcony above them to their leader.
All at once, Diver's red eyes bulged and he literally threw Kid off him, sending the younger cadet flying with a wail against the floor of the lower balcony. He looked up at the Lion-former, fearing the intimidating look and sound of him. Ahhh! He's upset, right? That they were…were… goofing around like this when there was work to do--!! Why had they even started?! What… what was going on?! "C—c-c-com—mander!" Diver squeaked, waving his hands around comically and then slapping them between his spread legs, covering himself as best he could,

"We-we—we!"

"It's not what it looks like, boss!" Kid caught up, waving a hand having hidden behind a metal counter, "We were, um, uh, we were…" he flushed guiltily with Diver, looking over at him in appeal, and then grinned, "We were just getting to know our new forms a little, ya know!"

"Y-yes, like that!" Diver was caught up in the kid's stupidity now. He knew it, was ashamed of it, but didn't have anything left to fall back on, "We're making a synopsis on it, if you would like to read it, Sir?!" They had made no such thing, but he just couldn't stop! Slag, he was busting!! He could barely keep from playing with himself right there, and that barefaced want was bringing tears of shame to his eyes.

"Yeah!" Kid barked, his tail waggling in all the excitement. Crud… were they in hot oil or what…! He'd never want the big boss to be ashamed of him, but… His ears flattened against his head, and he bit his lip, clutching his cock behind the counter and trying like hell not to start pumping it like some untrained pup. He whimpered tearfully, "Oh, Siiiir--!"

Like a sheet of glass shattering, their worlds were drawn together, and Convoy awoke. His yellow eyes flickered between the two, and he stood up swiftly,raising his head, "Ah… there's no need for that, Diver," he breathed with his token tenderness, gripping the railing as though it would stop him from caving in and crunching up against the burning, unrelenting throb in his groin, "You haven't seen Apache around, have you?" How could he have been thinking those thoughts… how could he have dared to think of laying his hands on them. His own men. His dear comrades. The proud Cybertron officer's spark began to ache right along with his frontal port.

They both shook their heads, which threatened to spin off their necks, sensors glowing.

"I see. Well then, you two," he about-turned, "I'll head back to the bridge," Lio murmured, stepping away, raising a hand in farewell, "Keep up the good work."

The hissing door slid to a close, and the two cadets looked at each other, before spouting tears of shame and relief, "Uweeeeeeh! Lio Convooooy!"

Not a minute had passed before the invisible pull that started in the recharge bay hand them, and they were at each other again, screwing out their floodlights.

Even as they gasped and moaned against each other, blissfully sharing their energon between them and wasting a little on the way, they knew it.

Something really weird was going on.