Chapter Ten

Plenoptic

And here we are at Chapter Ten! A true, true landmark this time! For those of you who don't keep up with my constantly changing bio (my last one was pretty slagged up) I've been saving all of the New Beginnings chapters to floppies…yes, my folks are technologically impaired, how kind of you to notice! As it were, ours is one of the first home computers…and now I'm nauseated, so let's move right along. I had two and a half chapters saved to floppy (10, 11, and ½ of 12) when my afthole computer suddenly announced that it could no longer read the material on the floppy. Even my father's work computer couldn't restore it. So here I am, retyping the mission, the rescue, the recovery…and on and on and on…

So after days of slacking I'm ready to give you the story you're all waiting so patiently for! Mostly it's because you've all been reviewing…thank you all so much!

One review asked me if I was aware of the existence of the Transformers Monopoly…and yes, I OWN IT!!!!!!!! My character? A Mr. Optimus Prime, of course! However, the game sports a troubling lack of Elita One…but Alpha Trion is on one of the chance cards! A funny story about one of my games against my familia at the end of this chapter…anyways.

Please enjoy, please review, in that order.

NOTE: The usage of Hot Rod in Chapter Nine has been changed to Springer. For reasons suggested by a fan…yeah, consider Hot Rod nonexistent at this point.

NOTE 2: Many of you inquired as to why and how Optimus and Elita were already mates. Welcome to my slagged up TF universe. In my universe, there is a difference between being "bonded" and being "mates." Orion Pax and Ariel were "mates." Optimus and Elita are "bonded." Capice?

. B E G I N . T R A N S M I S S I O N .

"Jetfire…anything?"

"Not yet, sir. I'm still looking, though."

Optimus Prime fought down the urge to kick something, or someone, very, very hard. He fought down the urge to curl up into a ball upon the hard ground and scream until his voice capacitator went out. Instead of doing any of the aforementioned, the bold commander took a deep breath. "Thank you, Jetfire. Keep on it."

"Yessir."

The comm. link closed, and the Autobot lowered his head, focusing his optics upon a jagged crevice in the ground at his feet. It was something to look at, something to see—anything to keep him preoccupied would do just fine. Anything to keep from facing the cold reality that the femme he cared so deeply for was in the claw-like hands of his malicious, slightly insane enemy…

"Optimus, you may find this interesting," Silverbolt said, opening his comm. link to the leader.

"Yes?" Prime inquired, tipping his head back and squinting his optics in hopes of catching sight of the elevation-wary Aerialbot.

"The atmosphere in this area that I'm searching is fairly still; there are actually some sound frequencies still hanging in the air."

"Whoa."

"Whoa is right. I'm not sure, but there's one unfamiliar frequency that I'm constantly picking up. It's low, it's quiet, as if whoever was emitting it was subconscious. Think this could be our missing femme?"

"Might be. Could you transmit?"

"Sure."

Optimus closed off his optics, his spark searing in pain as the soft frequency sounded over his comm. link. It was Elita all right. He'd recognize her voice from a million miles away. Not only that, but…her soft utterance was one of unmistakable familiarity…how many times had she murmured it to him, how many times had his own nomenclature caressed his audio receptors as Elita whispered to him in the dark? The frequency, though low and mumbled, came through the link clear as day:

"Optimus…" Kaon

Science Department

"I can't do it."

The sulky Decepticon leader lifted his head slowly, his red optics narrowing as he drank in the sight of his nervous scientist. "I beg your pardon?"

Starscream drew a slow, shaky breath, but somehow managed to keep his voice steady. "I said I can't do it. The program, I don't think I can extract it."

The fury threatened to explode, that much was obvious. However, Megatron, being the calm, controlled being he usually was, inhaled deeply, his nasal plates widening to allow the shallow atmosphere passage into his wind systems. "And just why is that, Starscream?"

The scientist nearly cried. Stubborn, determined, self-sufficient, independent Starscream was one of the few Decepticon rebels who didn't fear their dictator-like leader. However, much of this confidence was probably due to the fact that Starscream was also one of the few Decepticon rebels who knew what he was doing. As a scientist he clearly excelled past all the rest in terms of intelligence, Barricade and Megatron notwithstanding, and when he was given a job he did it. This, on the other hand, was different. This was a challenge he doubted he could meet, but he didn't trust Megatron to be sympathetic.

"Her system," Starscream mumbled, indicating the unconscious femme upon his examination bed, "is unlike anything I've ever encountered before. Her hard drive is locked in all sorts of ways, all sorts of firewalls and viruses and digital codes are protecting it. And…from the evidence you provided, sir…this Ellipses program seems almost as though it could be…biological. I mean, it may exist in her hard drive, but…its basic build could be coded in her very spark."

"…So you are telling me that you cannot, in fact, extract the Ellipses program?" Megatron said coolly, obviously struggling to maintain his patient façade.

Starscream moaned internally. "Yes, sir."

"So you are telling me that you cannot, in fact, even read her hard drive, thus you are unable to even, in fact, determine its location within her body?"

"Yes, sir, I'm afraid so."

"I'm not pleased, Starscream. I am not pleased at all," Megatron said icily, and the scientist felt his chances of survival slipping rapidly.

"Then let me offer you an alternative," Starscream suggested hurriedly, rushing over to his computer module and opening the files he'd spent most of his recharge hours poring over. "I discovered something about her creator…she was a project, code name Project ARIEL. He created her as a living capsule for the Ellipses program. Her creator's name is Alpha Trion…at present no one is aware of his coordinates, but…"

Starscream's lengthy explanation was cut off as Megatron stood slowly, opening his comm. link as he did so. "Barricade, come in."

"Right here, sir," came a gruff reply.

"There is a mech called Alpha Trion. His current whereabouts are unknown, and by my understanding we have no physical description of him. His affiliations, alliances, and other applicable synonyms of such relations are unknown. His protocol, registration number, and creator are unknown; his average health and status are also uncertain. We do not know his usual place of residence, nor do we have any evidence as to where he was last. Using the information I have just given you, I would like you to find him."

Barricade, many miles away, looked slowly up at Frenzy, who was goggling. "Yes sir," Barricade said weakly, closing the comm. link. "No problem."

"This is bull slag, 'Cade," Frenzy mumbled. "Megatron just gave us a whole paragraph full of nothing. How the Pit are we supposed to find this guy?"

"Use the information he just gave us, Frenz."

"Which was nothing."

"Well, this is Megatron we're talking about," Barricade said heavily, slipping off of his perch and disposing of the remnants of a bottleful of Maccadam's old oil (imported). "Best get to work, then."

Iacon

Sixth division

"So, do we got ah plan or wha'?"

"Somewhat."

"Not really what we were hoping to hear, Commander."

"If anyone has a plan, I'm completely obliged to listen," Optimus replied, spreading his arms wide in an expression of helplessness. He wanted to rescue his love more than anything in the universe, but that didn't mean he quite had the ability to figure out how. "Ideas?"

"How abou' we jus' go in an' blast 'em?" Ironhide suggested brightly, waving a hand around in the air, though his immature gesture earned him a sharp whack from Ratchet. "Ow! Ya lil' Pit-spawn…"

"Just going in and blasting them will get us all killed, Ironhide, and as heroic as that may be, heroism is often coupled with stupidity, and such is the case," Optimus said grimly. "Us being dead doesn't help Elita."

"There must be a way in without making a scene," Chromia muttered, poring over the computer console that stood in the corner of the conference room they currently occupied. "If I could just find blue prints or something…"

"Blueprints would be helpful," Prowl commented, though he frowned slightly. "We need to know our target area as well as possible. This is a stealth mission, and we're going to need our strongest out there. This is big, Optimus, you do realize that?" the second in command added hopefully, glancing in his leader's direction. "We are invading a Decepticon stronghold with a force of, what, ten or so?"

"I can't force any of you to do this," Prime said, looking just a tad frustrated. "This is strictly a volunteer mission. Anyone who wants to do this for reasons other than personal ones should just leave now."

"Would you, if only you were willing to go on?" Chromia asked quietly.

"I won't turn back," Optimus said firmly, turning to meet her gaze confidently. "I'm getting Elita back, even if it kills me."

"Then I'm coming too," Chromia smiled. "And Ironhide, by default."

"Fraggah."

"Nice talk, baby, nice talk…"

"Look, we're all in on this," Jazz said patiently, grinning cockily. "So let's just get a plan together and go kick some aft, okay?"

"There's a logical way to do this," Jetfire replied curtly, leaning over Chromia's shoulder. "We can't just rush in there based purely off of emotion."

"Of course not, Jet," Jazz enthused, his grin widening maliciously. "Optimus is rushing in based on testosterone."

"I swear one of these days I will bash your face in."

"I look forward to it."

Kaon

The Prison Hold

"Do whatever is necessary to extract it. Do whatever you must do…just don't kill her."

. T R A N S M I S S I O N . I N T E R R U P T E D .

…PLEASE REACIVATE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS…