Disclaimer: Still wishes she owned Transformers, but doesn't
It took about fourteen very short Earth solar cycles, something called a 'fortnight' or two 'weeks', before Orion fully settles onto the Nemesis. The dreary atmosphere of the ship did npt unsettle him as it once did and he was less prone to getting lost in the labyrinth of corridors. Even when he did, there was usually somebot to point him in the right direction. Most of the time that bot happened to be a drone.
Oh, how he hated that word. Drone. That's what he the officers and higher ranking bots called the Eradicons, saw them as. Could they not see the unique personalities and habits each one had? Or did they simply choose to ignore it?
Orion had seen countless numbers of the Eradicons on board, each and every one strongly monotone when compared to the varied, and oftentimes flamboyant frames of those upper ranking mechs and femme. Still, Orion had seen the individuality amongst the Eradicons. He had heard them joke and gossip with one another and address each other with alien nick-names. He had seen the unique bits of personality in those 'drones'.
It was through this attention that he gradually gained the trust of many the Eradicons. They had been slow to trust Orion when he first arrived onboard. He was sure it was their hesitance towards his sudden appearance on the ship, and the fact he once wore the Autobot sigil, but he seemed to win over most of the Eradicons with acknowledgement and respect that few bots of his ranking would show. Soon enough he was learning their names and habits and even began to distinguish between the different mechs, like Dwain's peculiar speech pattern, the way timid Geoffrey bounded down the halls when he had something new to share, or the ever-sulking demeanor of Steve.
Despite many of his new acquaintances, Orion did often find himself bored. Very, very bored. There was nothing to do for him here on the here on the ship and the Eradicons seemed constantly busy. He had once tried to access the Nemesis' massive library of information, but had discovered a vast majority of it to be blocked by clearance he did not have. He asked the first bot he could find about this, Soundwave, although he hadn't been sure if would actually receive an answer from the mech. Soundwave was extremely picky over when he chose to speak or when he chose play cryptic recordings.
"Data; Protected." The answer had been in that strange, monotonous voice of his. "Nemesis: has been infiltrated. Data: must be protected."
Orion had thanked Soundwave, and turned to leave, believing he had received the extent of the information he needed.
"Suggestion: Speak with Lord Megatron." And with that, Soundwave had left him.
Orion had followed the advice and spoke with Megatron, asking for access to the database and for the work the Lord had offered him a week ago. He would be receiving both within the next few solar cycles.
Until then Orion would amuse himself as he usually did; outside on the Nemesis' landing dock. It quickly became his favorite place to spend time when Megatron left him to his own devices. It had the most natural light and fresh air the ship had to offer.
But he came here because of the view. He liked to watch the planet they flew over, when the view wasn't blocked by the white, puffy clouds that formed naturally in the atmosphere. They rarely descended below the cloud level, only doing so at night or over deserted areas. Even though the Nemesis' cloaking could protect it from most of the Earth's radar systems, they could not risk being spotted by a large population of the planet's dominate species; curios creatures called humans.
When Orion has asked about these precautions, he was told that the humans were far from being ready to deal with the presence of Cybertronians on their planet. They were a young species, quick to judge and prosecute those they viewed as different, even if they were among their own kind. Their reaction to an alien species would be highly negative, if the mass amount of media representations of alien invaders was anything to go by.
Still, Orion did love it when he was able to see the surface of the organic planet with an unobstructed view. Earth was beautiful, far from being the glory that one was Cybertron but breathtaking in its own unique way. There were natural colors seen here that could not be seen on his home planet, the vast swaths of blue surrounding the browns and greens of land. He had seen the patchwork tan and green of the humans' food supplies, the oblong shapes of lakes, the windings snakes of roads and sometimes the grid patterns of largely populated cities. He loved seeing the latter of the four at night, ignited in the darkness with thousands of star-like lights. It was like a galaxy sitting just on top of the planet's surface.
Orion had mentioned his like of the planet to Knockout over a cube of energon, hoping the flamboyant mech would share his appreciation for the beauty that was Earth.
Knockout had laughed saying, "Oh sure, it's pretty from up here, but down there it's full of mud, dirt, organic insects and pollution the humans spew into their own atmosphere."
Orion was sorely disappointed, but surely this wasn't the case everywhere, right? Orion figured he would never know for certain unless he went planet side himself. Speaking of which, he was highly tempted to ask Megatron if he could accompany one of the energon scouting crews down to Earth. The Autobot threat was still very present and Orion had little to no combat experience to speak of, but he would have protection amongst the Eradicons.
He would still need to gain Megatron's approval. Perhaps he should wait until he began working on whatever project he would receive to ask the lord so he wouldn't look like a spoiled sparkling asking for so much.
For now Orion would continue to pass time watching Earth pass underneath, like he did now. Despite what Knockout had said, it was still a very pretty planet, the vibrant colors unseen on Cybertron or other planets he heard about. He would hate to see it destroyed by the Autobots, a trail of destruction extinguishing countless life forms, turning the vibrant greens a lifeless brown, leaving nothing but the empty husk of a planet.
Just like Cybertron.
Orion shuddered at the thought of his home world. He had seen the images of the dead planet, seen what the warlord Ratchet had done.
And he would not let that happen to Earth.
"Have the proper data files been sealed and those we cannot seal properly edited?" The question was directed to his third-in-command. The two were alone on the Nemesis' bridge, where Megatron had called Soundwave for this particular discussion and had dismissed the mass of Eradicons on duty as to keep this meeting private.
The only answer Megatron received from Soundwave was a quiet nod in the affirmative.
"Good," Megatron rumbled. If he were to allow Orion access to both Project Iacon and the data network, which Orion would find his way into no matter what in order to satisfy his curiosity, all data that could possibly revive Optimus' memories or at least plant doubt into Orion's processor must be completely sealed away or edited to hide the incriminating information. Megatron had left this task to Soundwave, trusting the mech to work fast, accurately and, most importantly, quietly. Megatron could not risk information reaching naïve Orion's audials. They must keep Orion as Orion for as long as they were capable to do so.
"And Soundwave,"
The mech gave acknowledgement with the slight tilt of his helm. Primus, Soundwave was quiet, going for ages without speaking. But that was what Megatron liked about the mech; his silence and steadfast loyalty, completely opposite to that screechy seeker he once reffered to as his second-in-command
"I want you to monitor Orion's work. Record anything he decodes and researches from the files. I need to know immediately if he begins digging too deep into sensitive files. Understood?"
A shallow nod from Soundwave was all that was needed.
"Good. Dismissed."
With that Soundwave left the bridge and thus leaving Megatron alone.
A/N:Urgh, finally got this chapter finished. I gave myself a week reprieve from the last chapter and then got pounded by a mass of school work and testing -_- Not to mention I was having trouble writing this particular chapter. Next part (I hope) shouldn't be too difficult and I'll be revealing the three new Autobots coming to Earth. Two have been guessed already and I'm honestly not surprised nobody's said the third one yet. He/She/It's more along for the ride anyways ^_^;
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and commented! I'd love to get back to each and every one of you, but I just don't have to time to so. But still, thank you so much 3
