Chapter Eight
Parallels
If Prowl had been a less controlled and experienced mech he would have passed out in shock. The young mech before him was unnervingly like a younger version of his commander and Prime, only he was red and silver where the other had been blue and silver in his youth. The Orion before him was long-limbed and lanky, with no weapons and little armor, his facial features expressively soft and so perilously young.
Prowl swallowed his knee-jerk reaction and recovered his decorum, laying a comforting hand on the young mech's shoulder. "It will be alright, you and your mate are safe here."
"Her name is Elita."
Prowl twitched, but at least he was expecting it. "Stay here a moment, I will return with the medical supplies quickly." he said, and dashed out of the room.
"Are you alright my friend?" Yoketron asked when he saw Prowl's wide optics and stunned face.
"Optimus is here."
Those three words had the normally reserved Master's jaw hanging in disbelief.
"There are differences, but it can't be anyone else." Prowl blurted out. "I've been around Primes and Matrix Heirs enough to recognize the feel of a Descendant, and he is most certainly an Heir. His mate is also carrying twins."
"Then what in Primus' name are you doing wasting time here talking?" Yoketron gasped. "Tend to them! I will retrieve a pair of infant shells."
"Got it." Prowl said, hoisting the medical kit and dashing back to the guest room. He made Orion patch bandage the worst of his own injures while he worked on Elita and checked on her sparklings.
"Orion, your mate is very close to going into premature labor." he said seriously as he finished tending Elita's injuries. "At this stage it could easily result in a miscarriage."
Orion howled in denial."NO! It can't be!"
"And we will not let it." Prowl shot back, grabbing the younger mech before he could attack. "The sparks are fully mature and stable, but neither shell has begun developing. If she goes into labor now the sparks will separate from her own and be released without bodies, hence the term miscarriage."
"That isn't good news at all! How in the Pit are you going to stop it?!"
"We won't stop it, and should not." said Yoketron, entering the room with two small stasis pods. "We must allow her to go into labor, and shell the sparklings into these blanks. You chose a very good place to seek refuge here."
"What?"
Prowl chuckled softly. "Welcome to the Ninja Sanctuary."
XxX
As far as separation procedures go, Elita's labor went as smoothly as possible for a badly injured carrier femme. The fraternal twin sparklings were properly shelled and their bodies activated as healthy little mechs.
Elita was justifiably shocked to have her twins in her arms so soon, but was overjoyed that her offspring survived. Orion on the other hand though was simply in shock, holding his younger son close to his spark.
"You are very lucky Orion." Prowl said pleasantly, tickling the sparkling gently on his little feet. "You're a father, twice over."
Orion blinked back tears. "I...I never thought it would be so soon, Elita and I have only been bonded a short time, and then the Decepticons started hunting us..."
"Do you have any idea why?"
The young mech shook his head. "None at all, I'm just a trainee officer that used to be an architect."
"And I came from a solidly middle class family." Elita said, cooing at her sparkling. "Nothing of note there."
Prowl weighted the options in his head, and after sharing a glance with Yoketron, he turned to the new parents.
"I have an idea why, though you may not believe me."
"What is it?"
"I feel that Orion is a Descendant of the Lineage."
Prowl had only a split second to snatch the sparkling out of Orion's arms before the mech fainted.
"Well, I suppose he took that better than I thought he would."
Elita and Yoketron only laughed.
XxX
Orion and his family stayed with the Ninjas for some time, Prowl training the young Heir in the skills he'd need as Prime.
And the young mech took to it like a fish to water. Diplomacy, tactics, leadership, combat, and harnessing the wisdom and power of the Matrix of Leadership when it appeared and graced him with it's presence, all of it came naturally to him. When he had grown strong enough for Prowl's standards he returned to the Autobot Academy, under a new name for his new appearance.
Optimus Pax.
In incredibly fast time Optimus graduated from the Academy with the rank of Major, rapidly overshooting his former friend Sentinel, whose bitterness over Orion's relationship with Elita broke their friendship and made Sentinel a caustic and patronizing mech.
After graduation Optimus quickly made a name for himself, becoming a powerful fighter and taking down Decepticon after Decepticon. He was given command over a small squadron of wrecker mechs and under him they won battles worthy of note in the history books. The name of Optimus Pax was soon on the lips of nearly all of Cybertron.
Prowl was very proud of his protege, but it wasn't to last.
As the war drew to a close and Megatron and the Decepticons were banished from Cybertron, Sentinel, in his bitterness, tricked Optimus into going to a desolate planet to recover vital technology stolen by Cons.
He didn't count on Elita coming along.
Nor did he count on the femme getting caught in the explosion that destroyed the downed Decepticon ship.
Optimus was so struck with grief and the shock of his mate's bond snapping that he did not resist Sentinel's accusations of treason, of his going to the Decepticons for training, 'because only Cons use sneaky, dishonorable tactics like that'.
Ultra Magnus did not quite go along with Sentinel's plans however, and only placed Optimus in command of a small squad of patrol defense mechs that helped maintain space bridges and keep watch on Autobot territory.
Prowl joined him on the assignment, citing that as the only mech with knowledge of the lineage and Yoketron's last wish to protect the Heir and Guardian. The twins Hot Rod and Blaze joined as well, as Optimus would never suffer to leave his children behind.
The crew consisted of three other adult mechs. The veteran medic Ratchet, moved to the squad for a chance to recover from the trauma of battle in the quiet of space patrol. A former Wrecker mech called Bulkhead that was also an expert on space bridge technology. And an engineer banished from the ministry of science for reasons unknown, Wheeljack.
For several vorns the crew traveled around the edges of Autobot territory, meandering between outposts and generally taking life as it came. Prowl began training the two younglings in the art, though the younger was far more adept in it than the elder, who solidly took after their father.
Hotrod and Blaze were nothing more than well behaved hellions, if such a description was anything more than an oxymoron. They listened to orders and obeyed the rules, but were hardly quiet young mechs, they loved to race each other and start sparring matches at the drop of a hat. In short, typical youngling sub-adults.
Hotrod, or Roddi, as he preferred to be called, took strongly after Optimus in build, nature, and fighting style. His coloring was primarily red, accented with golden yellow in streaks of flame patterns, his helm sporting the same sweeping side crests his father had. He preferred Optimus' strong, direct fighting style and was an outspoken and direct mech, always ready to speak his mind.
Blaze, on the other hand, took after Elita instead. With long limbs and a slim body he was built for speed and grace, perfect for the Shi'ka-tsu art. Though he was the same bright gold as his mother, he did not have her blue accents and developed solid black details from Prowl's influence. Like Elita, he had a temper, easily provoked and more than ready to sass back at authority, but he was still young and reckless and would be so for a while yet.
Neither Prowl or Optimus could tell yet which of the twins was the Matrix Heir and which was the All-Spark Guardian, but given how a few vorns into their wanderings, the pair of them began urging their path towards one of the most desolate regions, at least one was in synch with the All-Spark.
None of them counted on actually finding it in the wreckage of a inoperable Space Bridge.
Or the space battle with Megatron, resulting in a crash landing on an uncharted but inhabited planet.
Prowl was now certain that his luck, while terrible, was truly consistent as he and the rest of the crew fell into emergency stasis.
