Chapter 9: That's Just Prime

"What do you mean they're deployin us again?!" Jazz demanded. "We ain't even got one round in us yet! We just got here!"

Orion nodded sympathetically.

"I know. I'm sorry. Zeta is...displeased with us...with me. He says this will be our last op for a while. Says we'll...receive a substantial break after this."

"What happened, Pax?" Ironhide asked.

Orion shrugged. "We disagreed."

The other autobots exchanged glances.

"We got your back, Pax. If you need us to, we can vouch for you." Ironhide said, with a firm nod. "Right Hound?"

"Absolutely." The mech replied.

"You know I've got your back, Pax." Jazz added.

"No." Orion said strictly. "No one is putting their fenders on the line for me. No one, are we clear? This is my fight."

"It doesn't have to be." Prowl argued. "It shouldn't be."

"It won't be." Ironhide stated.

Orion let out a loud sigh, rubbing his helm, the stress making his energon feel hot.

"Let's get going. We have to get to Helex, and apprehend a medic named Flatline. He's been supplying the decepticons with..." he sighed. "You know what. Who cares about the brief? Let's just get it done."

The mechs filed out. Jazz gave Prowl a look.

"I ain't never seen him this pissed. He gonna be okay?"

Prowl sighed.

"I don't know."


Bumblebee let out a yelp as Pharma removed a section of his plating.

"Is that supposed to hurt like that?" He asked.

"It does if you're a wuss." Pharma replied. He let out a chuckle. "Sorry. I'm just used to operating on hardened soldiers, not..." he trailed off, then gestured to Bumblebee.

"Thanks." Bumblebee replied, as Pharma snorted, and began welding on fresh plating.

"So how long am I grounded for?" He asked.

Pharma shrugged. "After an injury like this? I'd say...I dunno...a day or so? It's not too serious. Just rest up for a bit, yeah?"

Bumblebee nodded. "Whatever happened to Ratchet? Wasn't he the medic posted here?"

"Ratchet?" Pharma asked. "You've met him? Yeah he got reassigned to the Kimia space station. He'll be back in a couple months."

Bumblebee nodded. "Thanks."

Pharma patted his new plating.

"Anytime." He said, before walking out of the room.

Leaving Bumblebee alone with his thoughts.

The mech rubbed his helm.

He was shaken. It was hard to deny. He couldn't get the image out of his head.

That drop. All the way down to Cybertron's surface. Certain death had been so close.

And on only his first job.

He looked down at the badge on his chest.

"I don't even belong here." He said aloud. "Look at these guys. They earned this badge. What did you do? Get thrown around by a dirty cop, and get lucky that you left your comms on. This is so stupid. Just go home you idiot..."

"Who you callin an idiot, mate?" Outback asked, walking in.

"What? Uhh...Starscream. Yeah, ya know I always heard he was really tough but man, he was a moron." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"You clearly didn't know him before all this decepticon business then." Outback replied with a laugh. "He's been a moron since he was forged. Barely even got out of flight academy because he thought high speeds would mess up his paintjob. Trust me lad, I was there."


Zeta Prime stared down at the flowing energon rivers beneath the Citadel, his frame tense.

"You wanted to see us?" Ultra Magnus asked, walking in with Arcee.

Zeta nodded.

"I wish I could address you under better circumstances. I just received the news and I...I haven't fully processed it yet. But it appears that Orion Pax...and his strike team...have decided to defect. They're heading for Kaon now."

"What?!" Arcee asked. "I was just talking to Pax an hour ago. He seemed...distracted. But he wouldn't do something like that, he's the most honest cop I know..."

"How sure are you?" Ultra Magnus asked. "Orion Pax, Prowl, Ironhide, Hound, Jazz...those are good mechs. I trained most of them myself."

"It took Orion Pax more than a month to rehab from the beating Megatron gave him." Arcee stated. "Why would he defect?"

Zeta sighed.

"You know Megatron was the only reason he survived?" He said, turning around and walking up to the two. "He made the call. If he hadn't, Pax would've died of his wounds. I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't all staged."

"These are serious charges." Ultra Magnus warned. "Its a very bad look, if we go after Orion Pax. The public loves him. He's a hero."

"Of course he is." Zeta said, giving the mech an irritated look. "Have you ever considered that Megatron might have wanted it this way? He beats Pax, Pax survives, but for his survival, Pax becomes a hero. He is above question in the public optic." He explained.

"That seems like a reach." Arcee said, arms folded, a skeptical look on her face.

Zeta Prime shot her a glare.

Arcee shrugged. "You want my professional opinion, that's it. I have my doubts about all this. Orion Pax is a good mech. And his squad have done more to shut down Megatron than any other."

"And you think that's not a little convenient?" Zeta Prime asked. "Megatron practically gave them Swindle. And he's been our most high profile arrest of the last year, outside of Barricade."

He turned and began to walk around the room.

"Orion Pax is charismatic. He has everyone convinced. The public. His squad. You." He said, turning to Arcee. "But he never had me convinced. He once told me Megatron was like a brother to him. He told me he believed in Megatron more than he had ever believed in any public figure. That belief does not just...go away." He stated. "Think clearly. Set aside emotion. It must be clear to you all, it is so clear to me. He betrayed us."

Arcee's mind raced as she stood beside Ultra Magnus.

Magnus's face wrinkled with anger as he embraced the lies his commander had told him.

He turned and punched the wall angrily.

"Megatron had us played this whole time." He snarled. "We need to assemble a squad, and bring them in, they could be anywhere by now..."

"It's being taken care of." Zeta Prime assured. "Silverbolt and his aerialbots are about to take off. I've ordered an airstrike."

"With respect, Prime sir...shouldn't we be trying to take them alive?" Arcee asked. "To find out what they know?"

"Too risky." Zeta replied. "If they reach Kaon, who knows what secrets they could compromise...they cannot be allowed to reach Megatron." He walked into his office, and turned to Magnus with a determined look. "And I must admit, when it comes to Orion Pax, it is a little personal. I...I truly thought him a friend. Once."

Ultra Magnus nodded understandingly.

"Yes. We all did."

Arcee stood behind them, and she simply couldn't buy it.

It didn't make sense.

She was loyal. But she was also skeptical. And something about what Zeta Prime was saying seemed off.


"You know, his matrix ain't even real." Jazz muttered as they drove.

"No?" Ironhide asked. "Didn't it pass to him after Megatron wiped the floor with Sentinel?"

"None of them had the real matrix." Hound stated with certainty. "It's been a prop. They say Nova was the only one who ever had the real one. And he had it placed in the undergrid, deep below Cybertron. Nobody knows why."

"So Zeta is a fake aft Prime, same as Sentinel. Is that what ya sayin?" Jazz asked.

"This really isn't helping." Orion said, from the head of the convoy. "I know you're trying but please just...don't."

"Welcome to Helex." Prowl muttered, as they rolled toward an empty looking street. "Do we have an address from Citadel command?"

"Somebody told me." Orion replied, as they rolled into the city. "But I'll check."

The convoy pulled over on a side street, and Orion transformed up, pressing on his comm.

"Citadel command, can we have an address for Flatline?"

Silence.

Orion looked at Prowl, who transformed up as well.

"No answer?" The black and white mech asked.

Orion pressed the button again.

"Citadel command, please copy. We need an address for Flatline."

The other autobots transformed and walked over, looking equally befuddled.

"Citadel command?" Prowl asked.

"Citadel command, tell your comms guy to stop rechargin and copy us already." Ironhide snapped irritably. "We're burnin daylight out here. Copy."


Zeta Prime listened to each comms request from his desk. His hands clasped together as he heard the voices of his mechs.

"Citadel command, Jazz just volunteered to sing the entire Empyrean suite in scat if y'all don't use your audios and answer the damn comms." Ironhide drawled.

"Alright just to be real clear, Ironhide pulled that out of his tailpipe, ain't nobody talented enough to scat the Empyrean suite, that's just crazy talk." Jazz added over the comm. "But I'll start singing some of my own stuff if y'all don't answer soon. Copy."

Zeta looked up from his desk.

"Teletraan. Put me through to Silverbolt."


"Primus!" Ironhide muttered. "Maybe we're bein jammed?"

Prowl held up his scanner.

"No active jamming signals in the area. This has to be something else."

Orion had his hands on his hips, his optics analyzing the area.

And finding one key thing missing.

"Where are the people?" He asked aloud. "This place is usually bustling."

"Something doesn't smell right, Pax." Hound said, reaching for his rifle. "No comms, and the city looks deserted."

"Prowl, can that scanner tell you what's going on with the city?" Orion asked.

Prowl began typing furiously.

"Um. Apparently there was a dark energon spill on 34th street. A transport truck. Mandated evacuation. The area's empty. All of northwest Helex is deserted." He frowned. "Except my scanner would detect dark energon. Its not picking up any."

"This is damned peculiar." Jazz muttered, looking around. He frowned, as he looked up over the rooftops. "Guys, we got aerials incoming."

Orion reached for his blaster.

"Seekers?"

Jazz held up binoculars. "Nah. Friendlys. Aerialbots."

"Try signaling them." Orion commanded. "We need all the help we can get. Pop smoke."

Hound stood forward and began waving up at the jets.

The jets streaked over the rooftops, toward the small squad, buzzing low, and fast toward the small group.

"Orion, they're on a basic attack vector." Prowl warned, looking at the jets, then at Pax with uncertainty. "How did that conversation with Zeta go?"

Orion turned to him, frowning at first.

Until the look of realization spread across his face, his bright blue optics widening.

"He wouldn't." He stated.

"The same way he wouldn't build a rust cannon on the Citadel?" Prowl asked, with an optic ridge raised.

Orion turned his attention back toward his mechs.

Hound was walking towards the approaching jets, still waving with his hands.

"Hey Orion, did you say to pop smoke?" He asked, reaching for a smoke grenade.

"HOUND, GET BACK!" Orion shouted. "WE GOTTA MOVE!"

The missiles came all at once, in horrifying synchronicity.

From the bottoms of each of the five jets.

They streaked directly toward the five mechs, who scrambled aside in sudden desperation.

They dove in opposite directions, away from the sidewalk, as the missiles streaked in.

They pounded the building they had just been standing in front of, sending glass and metal shrapnel flying.

Ironhide was the closest to the blast, and was launched off his feet, flying forward, knocking through Prowl.

He landed painfully on his aft, and glared up at the Aerialbots, as he lifted himself off the black and white mech.

"YOU WINGED AFTHOLES!" He shouted. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN?!"

The jets rose up above the buildings, and curved around for another run.

"Orion, they're coming back around." Prowl said, scrambling to his feet, panic in his optics. "They're coming back around. Orion, we need orders!"

Orion stared up at them, his vents puffing as his mind raced.

"Prowl. Take command. Lead the squad out of here. I'll draw their fire."

"WHAT?!" Prowl exclaimed.

"Yo, nobody is gettin left behind!" Jazz shouted, wiping debris off his frame. "Don't start with that hero nonsense!"

"GO! That's an order!" Orion shouted. "Get to safety! I'm gonna try and surrender."

"Orion, if this is like Mirage they won't..." Prowl began.

"I have to try. We can't fight them." Orion replied angrily. "Get them out of here, Prowl. None of you are going to die for my mistakes. GO!"

Prowl gritted his teeth in frustration, then nodded.

"Okay. But after you try this stupid stunt, you find your way back to us, you hear me?!"

"Of course." Orion replied. "Now go."

"Autobots, let's roll!" Prowl shouted, changing form.

The autobots gave their leader a sad glance, then turned and transformed, rolling away as fast as they could.

Ironhide remained, looking at the mech with a solemn expression. With a touch of surprise.

"You may not be a soldier, Pax. But you're the bravest mech I've ever met." Ironhide said with a salute. He turned and transformed, joining the end of the convoy.

Orion looked up at the jets as they came back around.

He pressed his comm link.

"I know you can hear me, Zeta. Listen to me. If you feel that killing me makes you more of a Prime, makes Cybertron safer, whatever, I don't care. Do it. But please. Spare my men."

Zeta Prime sat at the desk, watching a holographic layout of it all, as he listened to Orion over the comm.

"We've not always seen optic to optic, but I know you to be an honorable mech. And my squad knows that as well." Orion pleaded. "You won't do this. You won't kill my soldiers just for following my orders. Please..."

Zeta Prime listened closely, and let out a long vent.

He pondered his old friend's request for less than a millisecond.

"Aerialbots...don't lose the other four. Split up if you have to." He commanded over the comm. "No prisoners."