A/N: You know how I mentioned last chapter that my muses refused to work on the end of that chapter. Well, they continued to refused to work on it unless I also let them work on the next chapter aka this chapter, so you lucky folks get two chapters at once. Don't expect it to happen again. Also, all of the cities named (yes, even the punny Angmor Park) are canonical except for Iosis, and I don't own that either because I got it from Ford's Iosis Max. I thought it was amusing that a car would have a good name for a Cybertronian city.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Part 2: The Ghost of the Autobot Army
Chapter 1
Vorns passed as the war continued. Battles were fought, territory was claimed and marked by Decepticons, Autobots, and the Collective-allied now known as Neutrals, and mechs died with none sparked to replace them. Things changed as the war continued. As the Decepticons kept carving out more territory for themselves from land already claimed, the Collective changed and relaxed certain rules. Now Neutrals carried weapons in an effort to protect their own homes. Optimus Prime tried contacting the Collective several times in an effort to create a treaty between them and the Autobots because working together they could change the tide of the war, but remaining separate from both the Decepticons and the Autobots was the one thing the Collective remained adamant about. Individually, the Decepticons outnumbered them both and it was taking its toll, as were the repeated skirmishes between angry and frightened Neutrals and Autobot troops who just wanted to help. They were all dying and their world was dying with them. Yet, during this chaotic time, a strange thing started happening that gave the Autobots hope.
Brawn grimly flipped over another comparatively large body, trying to find any visible faction symbol on the mutilated corpse. What faction they'd belong to would influence how they took care of the remains. Autobot remains would be taken with them, Neutral remains sent to the nearest Neutral outpost in hopes of increasing good faith, and, depending on whose territory it was, Decepticon remains – once any usable information was downloaded – were either used as spare parts or were booby trapped for when their faction ran across them. Of course, the 'Cons knew that and had started setting up some nasty and fast-acting virus codes to download into their systems if they took a fatal hit. They'd lost a few bots, especially medics, that way and the Autobots had recently stopped bothering downloading info from the 'Cons. Well, most had but some, despite orders, believed it was worth potentially killing themselves to get information on where the Decepticons would strike next. Brawn wasn't one of them.
Brawn cursed when he saw the ragged remains of the red symbol of Primus that represented the Autobot forces now.
:Got another one,: he sent over the heavily encrypted comm. line. There was a soft curse nearby.
:That's the last of the troops stationed here, then. The other two are over here. Ratchet's not going to be happy, either. One of 'em is Socket.:
Brawn grimaced. The CMO had become rather protective of bots he'd trained in medicine before the war when it had become clear that Megatron and the Decepticons were aiming for the Autobot's medics. A good medic could practically bring the dead back to life, after all, and the Autobots had more medics than any other faction. After nearly being off-lined himself in a sneak attack, even Ratchet had agreed to going around armed, something he'd refused to do for vorns. It would probably be a good idea to avoid the brilliant if temperamental – and now armed – medic while he grieved.
:They're all dead, then?: Brawn asked.
:Yeah.:
:Fraggin' 'Cons.:
:I'm giving the order to kill their codes now,: Prowl informed the troops listening.
:Acknowledged,: Brawn sent back, nodding even though no one could see it.
Each troop had their own private encryptions, which were changed frequently. The idea was if one troop was compromised, the whole army wouldn't be. Killing a code meant that a troop's codes and encryption currently in operation were banned from ever being used again. This was done any time they lost most or all of a troop (thankfully not as often as before) because it was impossible to tell if the codes had been compromised. If they had been compromised before the troop died, it could very well be why the troop was dead. It was also possible to download codes from a dying mech, so they didn't use them in case of compromising a future troop. Either way, better safe than sorry.
:Codes killed.:
One joor later and one thousand megakliks away…
Sentinel Minor found himself glaring at their comm. array.
"You're certain the incoming code was killed?" he asked the mech seated at the comm. station.
"A little over a joor ago by Lieutenant Prowl himself, Sentinel sir," the poor comm. officer stated miserably.
"Very well, Tweeter, was it?"
"Woofer, sir."
"Let it through. Let's see what the 'Cons have to say."
"Yes sir. Line open." If he had thought Sentinel was going to play along in order to draw out the Decepticon, the comm. officer was sadly mistaken.
"Hello, Decepticon scum. You're on an illegal frequency. What do you say to that?"
There was a long pause and then, instead of a sound, a text message came through on the screen a face would normally appear on.
:The Decepticons are sending 10,000 mechs against the neutrally-aligned city of Angmor Park. You will need to counter the attack.:
"The slaggerd must not have heard me. Text them what I said earlier, Sergeant," Sentinel huffed.
"Uh, Sentinel, sir?" Woofer whispered, pointing at the screen that was updating without the comm. officer touching anything.
:I can hear you just fine, Sentinel Minor. You will send troops to Angmor Park or there will be a massacre.:
"Now listen here! Who do you think you are, ordering me about like that? Huh?"
"Sir, he's gone."
"Well, trace where it came from!"
"Already did, sir, but it kept claiming to be a hardline connection in this building, sir. Specifically this room." There was silence for a long breem as Sentinel observed that there was nothing hardlined into the comm. array and station.
Finally, Sentinel said, "Let's get orders sent out. We're not entering Neutral territory before the 'Cons do, but I want as many troops on standby nearby as possible. You know, just in case."
"Yes sir."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"A dead encryption code?" Aeterna asked, frowning.
"Yes sir. If I may, sir?"
"Go ahead."
"I've seen this encryption before, after it was killed. The advice the user gave was sound."
Aeterna looked the small brown bot over.
"You're the recent transfer from Sentinel Minor, right? Woofer?"
"Yes, sir. And I know it sounds crazy, but the advice, in fact, is what led to Sentinel Minor to move his troops and thus become the hero of Angmor Park this past vorn."
"Why am I not surprised?" Aeterna asked dryly before straightening. "Trace the incoming and let it through."
"Yes sir."
"This is Lieutenant Aeterna of the Autobot forces, second to Elita-1. State your designation and the reason for using a forbidden channel."
:Your query is unimportant, Lieutenant. Tomorrow at 2.47 cycles past mid-cycle, an assassin will attempt to kill Ultra Magnus as he gives a speech in Praxis.:
"That's some rather specific information. And why are you telling me this? I'm nowhere near Praxis," Aeterna pointed out with a hiss of zir vents.
:Unable to reach anyone closer. Relay the information.:
"Fine. Now will you tell me who you are? Hello?"
"It's cut off, sir."
"Huh. Annoying glitch, but you say its info is good?"
"Yes sir."
"And the trace?"
"Says it originated here, sir."
"Slaggit. Alright, get me Magnus on the line."
"Yes sir."
"Don't you have a wider vocabulary than that?"
"Ha! Yes sir. Just doesn't seem the time to use it," Woofer agreed just before Ultra Magnus appeared on screen.
"Aeterna. This is a pleasant surprise," Ultra Magnus said.
"I heard you're giving a speech in Praxis tomorrow."
"Yes, well, the city council insisted," Ultra Magnus replied, expressing the discomfort of someone who abhors public speaking but often gets roped into it anyway because they manage to do it well. "Decided to wish me luck?"
"Your speech will be great, Magnus; they always are. I'm more concerned about security."
"We've cleared the Decepticons from this area, Aeterna, and Praxis is now firmly on our side. Nothing will happen."
"Tell that to the ghost I just talked to."
"Ghost?" Ultra Magnus asked, EM showing his curiosity.
"Seriously, Magnus, I just got a comm. from a dead line supposedly coming from inside my base saying someone's going to go after you during your speech tomorrow – a speech I had no idea was actually happening until you confirmed it, by the way – and my new comm. officer told me the last time he'd seen something like that, the info allowed Sentinel to get into position in time to save Angmor Park. I don't know if it's a glitch, a ghost, or someone with interesting hacking skills, but they know something we don't. Humor me, okay?"
"Aeterna…"
"And if not for me, then for that youngling of yours."
"Hot Rod would be quick to point out he's only a few orns shy of being twenty-vorns-old and a legal adult," Magnus stated. Aeterna laughed.
"And he's going to be treated as a youngling until he's at least a megavorn, legal or not."
Magnus chuckled and replied, "I know, but I don't have the spark to tell him his next few vorns are going to be pretty much the same as the last few." Then Magnus turned melancholy. "Nearly twenty vorns of war, Aeterna. The Last Sparked don't even remember a peaceful Cybertron. How much longer?"
"Until all are one," Aeterna replied quietly. Magnus was silent for along moment, and then nodded.
"Until all are one. And I'll make sure there's proper security tomorrow. Ultra Magnus out."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"I hate these things and we really don't have time for this," Ultra Magnus complained as old Kup looked him over.
"You'll make time, Magnus, because while you'd rather play soldier and chase down the 'Cons now that you've got them routed, you're a leader and those people out there need a reason to cheer. Think of it as ensuring good morale," Kup said. Magnus huffed.
"Magnus!" a slighter red form yelled as he stomped into the room.
"What is it now, Hot Rod?" Magnus asked with the long-strained patience of a parent dealing with a teenager.
"You've got me doing guard duty! I thought we were supposed to be off duty during the speech! I wanted to watch it."
"You can still watch it. I've got you stationed across from the old Collective building," Magnus tried to soothe the irate youngling.
"Yeah, at the back of the crowd," Hot Rod muttered.
"Look, Hot Rod, if you want to be a soldier, then you've got to take the bad with the good. Unless you don't want to be a soldier any more?"
"What? No! I want to be a soldier! I worked hard for that responsibility!"
"If you want the responsibility, then you'll take your post and stay there. I can't afford to play favorites," Magnus ordered.
"Fine," Hot Rod grumped, "I guess I'll see you again when you relieve me from my post." The two older mechs watched the younger one leave. Ultra Magnus slowly cycled his vents.
"I swear, I'm not sure what to do with that youngling. He used to be so cute and obedient."
"Leave him to me, Magnus. I'll get him into shape."
"Alright, old friend. We'll tell him after this Pit-damned speech is over."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Praxis had been solidly Neutral territory at the start of the war, but as the war continued on, the city had become an underground supply source for the Autobots, which is why they had rallied quickly to save it when the city council requested help against the Decepticons trying to take them over. Today was to celebrate the Autobots' recent victory and confirm that Praxis was now Autobot territory. Excitement was running high; there had been little to celebrate of late.
Praxis's main square was set up among the highest buildings above most of the rest of the city, not hard to do when most of the city had been carved into the side of a deep depression. The square was surrounded by the city's most important buildings; the city council chambers, the Security Division's main building as the city had tried to maintain both the building and the law enforcement it represented, a few exchanges specializing in energon and other precious resources, and finally the Collective's data exchange which had been abandoned when the city council had turned to the Autobots for help. The Collective building was locked and no one was allowed inside, making it the only building on the square without at least a few mechs hanging out on it.
Hot Rod diligently stood at his post, or as diligent as one could be when one was fidgeting. It was growing hot between the lights put out to mimic their no longer existent sun and the growing crowd, and Hot Rod was growing bored with nothing to do but stand there. There was no one close by interested in talking to him; most of the crowd nearby was made of former Neutrals who looked down on his scuffed soldier-style armor and mods, never mind that he'd helped save their city. The ones truly excited about their change in status were crowding the platform hastily erected on the ramp leading up to the City Council Chambers (stairs being a foreign concept to a species that ranged in size from minibot to city-sized). At any rate, Hot Rod couldn't even leave his post to go get some energon goodies some enterprising street hawkers were selling in the thick of the crowd.
Hot Rod shifted again and recounted windows and outcroppings in the Collective Building across the way. A rising cheer made him face front again and he felt a surge of pride when he saw Ultra Magnus standing there shining, all polish and gleam, in the distance because that was his mentor up there, even if he was still mildly irked at said mentor. To his disappointment, a city official started the proceedings, droning on about how grateful they all were and how they all looked forward to siding with the Autobots (which was a blatant lie if Hot Rod had ever heard one) and blah, blah, blah. At least Magnus kept it short and to the point when he had to speak. The way the city official was going on, however, that wouldn't be for awhile.
Hot Rod groaned and started counting windows on the Collective building again, which is why he saw the assassin. Frankly, Hot Rod was wondering how everyone else was missing him; the assassin was bright green, toting a visible sniper rifle, and the only mech in the supposedly locked Collective Building. Hot Rod's first instinct was to shoot the assassin and he probably would have if it hadn't occurred to him that he was standing a crowd of civilians and the sniper was far enough away that he could very well miss. 'It'd look bad if I missed,' he mused, the fact that he might hit an innocent if he missed not even occurring to him. It looked like the slaggerd was taking his time setting up, which meant it wasn't the city official he was gunning for, but Magnus, a thought that made Hot Rod's internal temperature plunge. No way was he going to let something happen to Magnus. Hot Rod was pretty certain that if he hurried, he could reach the assassin before the assassin got a shot off.
Decision made, Hot Rod left his post and pushed his way through the crowd, apologizing as he did. Thankfully the crowd was thin on this edge and he made it through pretty quickly. Once he reached the building, Hot Rod took a nanobreem to observe the broken lock before he slipped inside and changed into his alt, zooming up the interior ramps.
:What the frag are you doing?: Kup suddenly asked over his comm. line. :You're not at your post!:
:No time to explain, old geezer.:
:What do you mean, 'No time'? Of course you have time! Just because you're young doesn't mean you can go running off whenev-:
Hot Rod turned off his radio just before he transformed and took what he imagined was a heroic flying leap at the assassin. He neglected to consider that the assassin might have heard him coming. In a neat little move Hot Rod would never forget, the minibot-sized assassin twisted under Hot Rod, swung himself up so he was on Hot Rod's back, and sunk an energy blade through Hot Rod's shoulder even as they landed, the assassin on top and the tip of the blade sinking into the floor, pinning him there.
"Pathetic. This's the best the Autobots can do? No wonder the Decepticons are winning," the green assassin whispered, hissing slightly. Then the mech pressed something in Hot Rod's neck and Hot Rod felt himself go limp from the neck down.
"You can watch us," the assassin said as he removed the blade and moved Hot Rod into a sitting position, supporting Hot Rod's head and back against the door-sized window frame. Hot Rod could see purple optics and Decepticon symbol amid the green armor, and when the assassin moved, he had a disturbingly good view of the platform holding the city officials and Magnus. There was the sudden sound of cheers and feet stamping in the Cybertronian version of applause. The city official must have finally finished.
:Kup.:
:Oh, now you decide to listen to me.:
:Shut up, Kup,: Hot Rod replied as he watched the 'Con return to the sniper rifle and aim at Ultra Magnus, who was coming forward now to speak. :He's gonna kill Magnus!: Hot Rod sent the location.
:We know. Now where are you?:
:What do you mean, you know?!:
:We know he's there. Where ever you are, stay put.:
:Uh, kinda have to now. Just tell me you you're about to stop him because he's taking aim right now.: More than taking aim.
"No!" Hot Rod cried out as he saw the assassin pull the trigger. Then the assassin cursed and Hot Rod recognized the light effect of a laser hitting a force field. Alarmed cries and shocked murmurs came from outside even as the assassin started taking apart and subspacing the sniper rifle. Hot Rod let his vents out in relief, which he regretted because it attracted the Decepticon's attention.
:Uh, Kup, you know how you told me to stay put?:
:…yes.:
:Help!:
:Frag it all, Hot Rod, if you've gone and gotten yourself into trouble because you can't follow a simple order-: Kup's rant was cut off by the 'Con rather painfully destroying Hot Rod's comm. with a well-placed blow.
"Red-fool stinks as a hostage," the 'Con told him, "but Red-fool will have to do."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kup had ordered the Collective building to be surrounded once they had located the would-be assassin, but now he was cursing up a storm. This was far too similar to that one situation in Iosis involving the then-Prime back in the day and he still remembered how badly that had turned out. At least they weren't dealing with Quintessons, which meant it was theoretically possible to make a deal with the Decepticon that wouldn't end in someone offline.
"Status?" Ultra Magnus asked as he strode up to Kup.
"You shouldn't be here, sir. He might still take a shot at you. Bad enough he's got a hostage."
Kup saw Magnus's fist clench even as Magnus calmly asked, "Who?"
"I'll give you three guesses, but since I know you've noticed he's not where he supposed to be, the first two don't count," Kup replied.
"Slag. Is the Decepticon aware of what he has?"
"Doubtful."
"Hmm. Alright, let's get this over with."
Kup nodded, raised the volume on his voice processor and called out, "We have you surrounded! Surrender and come out peacefully or we will retrieve you by force!"
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
Kup gave a grimace when he heard Hot Rod's shout and he warily watched the youngling stumble out of the building. Hot Rod's arms appeared to be bound behind his back and frag if that wasn't a minibot-sized 'Con wrapped around Hot Rod's back and holding an energy blade to the youngling's neck. That was going to be one hard target to hit if they didn't want to kill the youth.
"We have two blades," the little Decepticon called out to them, "Second one goes through Red-fool's spark if you don't let us leave."
"What assurances do we have that you won't kill Hot Rod?" Ultra Magnus asked, displaying an impressive amount of calm for someone watching his youngling being taken hostage.
"Hot Rod?"
"Your hostage."
"Magnet-bot cares what happens to Red-fool," the 'Con purred.
"Of course I do," Magnus said. Kup saw Hot Rod straighten slightly under the 'Con's weight at that, only to slump when Magnus continued with, "He was the last one sparked of the Last Sparked. He's only a youngling and we all care about him. Would you really kill a youngling?"
:Magnus, should you be telling him that? I thought hostage negotiation involved down-playing how important a hostage is,: Kup asked his commander over a private comm. line.
:It does, but in this case I thought it might be a good idea to let him know we'd hunt him down for killing this particular hostage,: Magnus replied, only to wince at Wasp's answer.
"Magnet-bot seems to think Wasp cares. No one cares for Wasp like Magnet-bot cares for Red-fool, so why should Wasp care about Red-fool?"
There was a pause before Ultra Magnus carefully asked, "Who's Wasp?"
"We are Wasp," the Decepticon replied, sounding surprised he was being asked. Kup let his vents hiss in distress because it was starting to really look like that the little 'Con was seriously glitched and that made the situation all the more dangerous.
"And what does Wasp want?"
"Magnet-bot offline and us safely away, but we will settle for one of the two."
Kup caught the edge of a wicked grin on the 'Con's ferrofluid face mask. It was the only clue they had of what the 'Con was thinking as he was keeping his EM close and tight.
"Which would you prefer more?" Ultra Magnus asked.
There was a pause before Wasp said, "Red-fool will walk up to you carrying us. You will not attack us and we will let Red-fool go. We can always kill him next time." Kup watched Hot Rod's EM shiver at the last line, which had practically been purred into the youngling's audio. Then, as Ultra Magnus pursed his lip plates, Kup realized that Ultra Magnus was actually seriously considering the Decepticon's proposal.
:Magnus, no! You can't trust that mini-con!:
:We have to give somewhere, Kup, or he'll offline Hot Rod for sure.:
Out loud, Magnus said, "Agreed," and then lowered his gun. The troops followed his lead and example. Once all the weapons were lowered, Wasp spurred Hot Rod forward. Hot Rod stumbled awkwardly toward Magnus, balance thrown off by the arm bindings and Wasp's weight on his back. When Hot Rod was mere nanokliks away, Wasp tensed and then leapt at Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus ducked, which is why the blade only bit into his shoulder instead of something vital lower down, even as Wasp used Ultra Magnus's chassis as a platform for a second leap. The little mech twisted in the air, transforming. He hit the ground in his alt and zoomed off. Several soldiers fired shots after the Decepticon before they transformed and took off after him. Kup joined them, aware of their medic and remaining soldiers moving to help Magnus and free the youngling.
The only way out of the city from here involved a ramp leading to the lower city, so Kup moved to block it. He was just in time, because here came the young ones roaring his way, the Decepticon in the front. Then, much to Kup's surprise as well as the shock of the following soldiers, Wasp transformed and leapt helm-first over the sheer edge. The little 'Con flipped in mid-air and caught the edge of the ramp below and used it to launch himself onto the roof of a building farther down and not close enough to reach from a straight jump.
Kup cursed as he tried to turn around and get out of the way all at once. The younger ones barely managed to slip past him onto the ramp even as Kup watched Wasp hurdle the gap between that building and the next, which had a sloped roof the assassin slid down before diving down below, presumably to street level. Kup frowned and followed the young ones down into the lower city, directing the search for their assassin. A cycle later, when Ultra Magnus commed and asked where they were, Kup had to give in and admit they'd lost him.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Some-bot cheated! Some-bot warned Magnet-bot!" Wasp hissed as he paced.
Swindle watched the assassin warily. It had been Onslaught's idea to hire an assassin to kill Ultra Magnus during the speech in order to lower Autobot morale in this sector, but Swindle had been in charge of the actual hiring. Wasp had been a real deal, too – a talented mech without the rep to prove it. Now that Swindle had met Wasp, he wondered if he shouldn't have spent the extra credits on someone with a good reputation, a feeling that grew the longer he was in the mech's presence. Swindle would be the first to admit his fellow Combaticons weren't exactly stable after going though the experiment that had turned them into a gestalt team, but Wasp was insane.
On the other hand, Wasp had a point. The assassin had shared the video of what had happened, thankfully limiting it to video and audio (Swindle didn't think he could handle the crazy fragger's emotions on top of it) and that had been quite the force field the Autobots had up. Swindle knew exactly how expensive and power consumptive a force field that size was as well as how long it took to set up, and the Autobots didn't waste those kinds of resources unless they believed they needed to.
"Who would've told?" Vortex asked, "We're the only ones who knew."
"We" included the Combaticons and the other five mechs in this lonely outpost. They wouldn't be there much longer. They were already stripping it of anything useful and would destroy the remains once they were all out and had a place to go.
"We need to, ah… discuss payment since you were unable to finish your objective in the time-frame given," Swindle said carefully, hoping to take the assassin's attention off of the more idiotic members of his gestalt before Wasp killed one of them. Wasp cycled his vents rapidly, but otherwise didn't respond.
"Why should be pay the useless little slaggerd anything at all?" Brawl asked very loudly. Swindle gave Brawl a nasty look. Swindle didn't like anyone making his job harder and, while he loved credits a lot more than the next mech, he was prepared to pay the insane assassin just to leave. It was just unfortunate that none of his fellows except for Onslaught seemed to realize how very dangerous Wasp truly was. Well, maybe Blast Off did; he certainly had avoided Wasp, but then Blast Off avoided every mech he considered inferior and that was everyone. Onslaught had known Swindle was going to get the best he could get for the credits and, after seeing the video, had been watching the assassin with a certain air of wary thoughtfulness. Swindle himself had been impressed; the hostage situation had been a beautiful example of Decepticon-style assassin training in a mech crazy enough to leave his relatively safe perch in order to try and take a shot at his target while surrounded by trigger-happy enemy forces and the mech had still made it out alive and unharmed. Their comm. officer, Offbeat, had gone very quiet after seeing the video, but Brawl, Vortex, and the last four Decepticons they were stuck here with just didn't seem to realize what they'd just seen. That was about to change.
Wasp was also giving Brawl a look, one that made the much larger mech twitch. It went on for a long breem before Brawl had enough, unsubspaced a weapon, and aimed it at the smaller mech.
"You stop looking at me like that, you worthless scrapheap! You didn't even finish the job, so don't you look at me like that!"
Later on, Swindle would often replay what happened next for his own edification that, yes, he did witness the little green mech take out Brawl - and for blackmail purposes, of course. At the time, all he could think was that he was about to find out how it felt to lose someone he was quantum-bonded to. Brawl himself would later admit that he remembered pulling the gun and threatening the mech one nanobreem and the next, he was on his back with errors running on about the now missing arm that had held the gun while Wasp was on top of him, holding those Pit-damned blades pointed right at his optics.
"If it's about the credits - " Swindle began, only to be cut off by Wasp growling, "Wasp not care about credits. Wasp want traitor-bot dead!"
"I'm not a traitor!" Brawl shouted, expressing real fear now of the little mech literally radiating fury. Swindle quickly began looking for a scapedrone. His fellow Combaticons, bless their twisted sparks, beat him to it.
"If anyone here is likely to be a traitor, it would be Offbeat," Onslaught suggested, "After all, he is the one with Autobot encryptions saved in his software."
"So I can unencrypt them!" their nervous little communications officer wailed, all too aware of Wasp's helm swiveling to observe him. "So we can listen in on the Autobot's comm. conversations!"
"Listen to comms, send 'em. What's the difference?" Vortex drawled.
"I didn't! I wouldn't!" Offbeat yelled, obviously frightened of the green mech now utterly focused on him as evidenced by Wasp sliding off of Brawl and slowly stalking towards the communications officer.
"Can you prove it?" Blast Off asked.
Offbeat looked around wildly, but the Combaticons were presenting a unified front of accusation while the other four mechs weren't looking at him at all. Swindle could see Offbeat's moment of crystal-clear clarity as he realized he was being thrown to the sharkticon to save the others and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"No," he whispered, off-lining his optics. His death was surprisingly merciful in its swiftness.
"Goodbye, traitor-bot," Wasp hissed as he removed his blade from Offbeat's spark chamber.
::Idiot. After all the trouble we went to in order to become a gestalt, you better not go getting yourself killed,:: Onslaught threatened Brawl over their quantum bond where only their fellow Combaticons could hear them.
::Yeah,:: Brawl replied, looking at Wasp and shuddering in his system. That's when the comm. station blared with the sound of an incoming message, making the gathered Decepticons jump. Looks were exchanged as it struck them that their comm. officer was currently lying off-lined on the floor in a growing puddle of his own fluids.
"Anyone know how to answer that?" Vortex asked as they all looked at the comm. station's complicated design.
"Can't be that hard. All Offbeat did was press buttons," Swindle stated as he approached the comm. station. He made a small show of studying the control panel because he didn't want to admit knowing how to use it in front of Wasp. Once he deemed enough time had passed, Swindle answered the incoming comm. A mech Swindle knew as Dynamo appeared onscreen once he did.
"About time! Hey, where's Offbeat?"
"Offbeat's… not available," Swindle stated diplomatically.
"Wasp killed him for being a traitor and ruinin' his shot at Ultra Magnus," Brawl loudly added with much less tact. Dynamo's optics went to Brawl and his missing arm, then to the assassin who was liberally spattered in fluids normally kept inside a mech.
"Uh huh."
"What did you need? I have a few things for sale at a great price!" Swindle said cheerfully, adding Offbeat's mods to his mental list. He could probably sell the body itself for scrap metal. "Weapons, mods, info."
"Actually I was calling to give you lot info and it's free," Dynamo replied archly.
"Free's good," Vortex quickly spoke up, all too used to Swindle's ways to turn down anything given freely.
"Megatron's moving everyone on the southern front to this village here," Dynamo said, coordinates and a map coming through, "and that includes you lot. He especially wants Bruticus there. A couple other troops will meet you there. We're finally making a bid for Altihelix."
"Great! We have a few last breem things to deal with and then we'll be there!" Swindle said.
"Good," Dynamo replied. "All hail Lord Megatron."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ultra Magnus frowned as he fought the urge to scratch at the weld on his shoulder as his repair nanytes worked to make it one with the rest of his structure.
"Scratch it and a I'll take a cue from CMO Ratchet and start throwing things," First Aid warned mildly, EM expressing amusement at the idea. Magnus smiled at the mild-mannered Protectobot.
"I'll resist," he promised as he stood and moved to leave the med bay. A worried Hot Rod and irritated Kup waited outside. Hot Rod relaxed in relief at the sight of him before the youngling's expression took on a sullen, stubborn expression Magnus was starting to recognize all too well.
"Kup, I'll meet you in the comm. room in a few breems. I need to grab a data pad from my office first."
Kup nodded and left. Hot Rod looked after Kup, EM expressing surprise, then wariness and a little fear when he realized he was being left alone with Magnus.
"Um, I'll just…" Hot Rod managed, pointing down the hall after Kup.
"Hot Rod, walk with me, please," Magnus requested, snagging his youngling before Hot Rod could make good his escape. The walk to Magnus's office was filled with an uneasy silence. It remained even as Magnus gestured Hot Rod to enter the office first. Magnus was already looking for the data pad on his desk when Hot Rod finally spoke up.
"Are you going to ream me out for leaving my post, too?" Hot Rod asked, fidgeting where he stood and casting a longing look at the door.
"I should. You disobeyed a direct order and put yourself and others in danger."
"I thought I was protecting you! No one told me they knew the assassin was there!"
"So why didn't you tell them when you noticed he was?"
Hot Rod opened his mouth and then closed it, EM all thoughtful confusion. "I don't know. I guess I wasn't thinking."
"No, you weren't," Magnus stated sharply. Hot Rod's EM flinched, making Magnus feel guilty for the rough words.
"Look," he offered, "Maybe you're not ready to be a soldier yet." After all, it wasn't like he'd ever really wanted to force his youngling to become a soldier.
"Magnus, no! I'll do better next time! Just please don't take me out of the ranks!" Hot Rod pleaded, optics wide and bright and his EM rolling into a begging position. Magnus relented under the force of the expression, knowing that sooner or later he'd regret it even as he caved.
"Alright, but you need to learn to obey orders, even ones that don't make sense to you. Sometimes the one giving them to you doesn't know the why either, because he got them from someone further up with a better view of the battlefield."
"Yes sir!" Hot Rod replied, all eager readiness that made Magnus's spark ache. So young. Too young, really, but the world wasn't giving them a choice and it was what Hot Rod wanted.
"And next time you see something you think is important, tell someone."
"Yes sir!"
"Very well. Starting tomorrow, you're working under Kup."
"… aww."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ultra Magnus strode into the comm. room feeling better now that he'd squared a few things away with Hot Rod, although his shoulder still itched like crazy.
"You're luck you're still alive," Kup stated without preamble.
"That bad?" Magnus asked.
"Everything we could find on that Wasp character suggests he's a fully-trained assassin with a very glitched processor. An' I can tell you stories about sane assassins that'd freeze your lines. In fact, there was this one time - "
"Let's save the stories for later, Kup. We need to discuss how this affects things."
"Uh, sir?" Copperflame, who was monitoring the comm. station spoke up.
"What is it?"
"We've got an incoming on a dead code. I'll just block it, shall I?"
"No, stop!" Magnus ordered sharply, making everyone in the room stare at him.
"Magnus, what the frag?" Kup asked.
"You know that warning we got from Aeterna about the assassin?"
"Yes," Kup replied, tone and EM indicating this had better be good.
"Aeterna said zie got the warning from a ghost using a dead code. Let's just say, I'd like to meet this ghost. Patch it through."
"Yes sir."
:I was starting to wonder if you were going to answer.: The words scrolled down the screen in place of an image.
"My apologies. I'm Ultra Magnus."
:You survived. Good.:
"If you're the ghost that spoke to Aeterna - "
:I am.:
Magnus nodded as he continued, "Then I owe you my gratitude. Thank you." There was a long pause, prompting Kup to snark, "It's polite to say 'You're welcome' when someone thanks you."
:You are welcome, Ultra Magnus, but let us put pleasantries aside. Megatron is going to attack Altihelix.:
"When?" Magnus asked, fingers creaking as he clenched them into a fist.
:Soon. 5,000 mechs are already mobilizing, including at least one gestalt team, the Combaticons, with a few additional troops on their way. Anything more is unknown.:
Kup was cursing now even as Magnus frowned.
"Thank you for the information. Before you go, is there anything we can call you so we know it's you and not someone pretending to be you?" There was no answer for so long that Magnus asked Copperflame, "Did he sign off?"
"Line's still open," Copperflame replied, "but sir? The comm. unit says the call's originating from this room."
"Of course it does. Ghost, remember?" Magnus said as he finally gave in and gave his shoulder a good rub, but he stopped when something else appeared onscreen.
:AB-1025.:
"AB-1025 what?" Magnus mused out loud.
:That is what you may call me,: the ghost replied right before the line died.
"Line's dead, sir," Copperflame said unnecessarily.
"The Protectobots should be able to take on the other gestalt, although I hope there's not more than one. Still, we're not up to taking on more than five thousand Decepticons," Magnus stated before asking, "Who's closest to us?"
"Sentinel," Kup replied.
"Of course he is," Magnus sighed. "Who else?"
"Elita-1's a bit further out and so is Axiom," someone else offered.
"Hail all of them. We're going to need them."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The battle just outside Altihelix was going surprisingly well considering Ultra Magnus felt like he was continually bumping heads with Sentinel Minor. There had been, much to his relief, only the one Decepticon gestalt and Defensor was doing a mighty fine job of keeping him busy. It was the rest of the Decepticon troops giving them trouble. It had taken him the better part of a joor and Sentinel getting wounded to get it through Sentinel's processors that Axiom and Elita-1 were already on their way and if they kept drawing the Decepticon troops in, they could catch them between all three. Once they had arrived, the pincher move worked beautifully. Most of the Decepticons were off-line or taken as prisoners of war. The gestalt, however, had gotten away after giving Defensor quite the dent upside the helmet, much to Hot Spot's displeasure.
"Hey, Boss! Can I requisition better armor? I swear they all go for the head," Hot Spot called cheerfully from his med berth as Ultra Magnus walked into the med bay.
"I'll see what we can do, Hot Spot," Ultra Magnus agreed even as he wondered why First Aid wasn't working on his fellow gestalt member. The idea did have merit and Hot Spot had ended up in the med bay a few times too many since becoming part of a the Protectobots. Magnus then nearly had a spark attack when he realized that the reason First Aid wasn't working on Hot Spot was because he was working on Hot Rod.
"Hot Rod?"
"Hey, Magnus! I've got a really awesome battle wound I'll have to show everyone. Of course Aid here seems to have mistaken me for Hot Spot because our designations start the same," the youngling teased even as he waved at his mentor. First Aid calmly reached up and immobilized the arm he was currently welding. Once he finished, he straightened.
"There, done. The repair nanytes will do the rest. In a few joors you won't even have a mark."
"Aw."
"Why don't you go show off your battle scar while its still there, hm?" First Aid asked.
"Yeah! Permission to leave, sir?" Hot Rod asked, practically bouncing where he sat.
"Of course. If First Aid says you're fine, then you should probably give up your berth to someone who needs it."
"Oh, okay." Well that hadn't been the most enthusiastic of responses.
"Tell you what. Everyone seems to be gathering here," Magnus added, sending Hot Rod some coordinates for a good sized room in the building the inhabitants of Altihelix had kindly offered for their use. "Go and show off. Just stay away from the high grade and any specialty mixes, okay?"
"Yeah! Thanks, Magnus!" With that, Hot Rod was off and out the door.
"That youngling's almost as energetic as I am," Hot Spot stated with a chuckle.
"No one is as energetic as you are," First Aid said as he started fixing Hot Spot's dented armor.
"Can you give me any information on where Bruticus might have gone?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"No clue, Boss," Hot Spot replied with a shake of his head. "If it was just Bruticus, I'd say he's just wandering around somewhere, but Bruticus is surprisingly stupid considering how intelligent his component parts are. Pit, I prefer facing Bruticus than his individual components. At least one of them is scarily smart and the others are just scary."
"I'm just glad we were in time to help the inhabitants of Altihelix," First Aid offered quietly.
"Yeah. How did you know to rush us here, anyway, Boss?"
Ultra Magnus paused and then replied, "A ghost told me."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"A ghost calling itself AB-1025?" Elita-1 asked, her EM curling in incredulousness.
"I've heard of soldier's superstitions before, but that one's a doozy," Axiom added.
"Sentinel, you received a text-only comm. from a dead encryption right before the battle of Angmor Park, correct? One that claimed to come from your own comm. station?" Ultra Magnus asked sternly.
"I… yes," Sentinel agreed with a frown.
"What did it say? Ooh, I'm a ghost?" Axiom asked jovially. Sentinel glared at him.
"No, actually, it called me by name and gave me the exact number of Decepticons heading for Angmor Park before disconnecting. There wasn't anything about an AB-1020, though."
"AB-1025," Ultra Magnus corrected, "and I suspect that I was the first to keep it on line for any length of time. I threw whoever or whatever it was for a loop when I thanked them. But it's contacted at least three officers, possibly more, with highly pertinent and extremely detailed information. I'd like us and our comm. officers to compare notes on this thing, whatever it is."
"Alright, if it will make you happy, Magnus. I'll tell your brother too, if you like?"
"Thank you, Elita."
"If we're done with this briefing, we seem to be missing a party," Axiom pointed out. Ultra Magnus nodded. He might not like Sentinel, but Sentinel didn't like Axiom and it was probably best if they went their separate ways while they were still drained from the battle. Magnus approached Elita-1.
"May I escort my brother's consort?"
"Well aren't you a gentle-mech," Elita-1 replied with a soft smile. They headed off towards the noise of the on-going party. Hopefully by now most of the troops would be smashed enough to not care that their superior officers were getting overcharged with them. Of course, they could have their own private, officers-only party but where was the fun in that? Especially since it would mean being trapped in a room with Sentinel Minor and Axiom.
"Do you want us to try and keep this ghost quiet," Elita-1 asked as they neared the crowd.
"Magnus!" Hot Rod suddenly yelled, running up. "You have to hear this. They're saying that the Autobots have a ghost protecting us! Is it true?"
:Don't bother,: Magnus sent to Elita-1, who only smirked in reply, before saying out loud, "Yes, apparently."
And with that, the rumors started to spread.