10. Meeting
Silverstorm
It took the Constructicons half a joor to clear the ruined corridor that lead to the brig. By that time they all knew that Bumblebee and Mirage was long gone, taking Thundercracker with them and leaving the Air Commander damaged, maybe even deactivated on the floor. The security cameras didn't have a good angle to that corner so they couldn't see exactly what the yellow Seeker did to Starscream, but the rifle shot that they heard didn't promise a lot of good. Megatron was angry and pissed off; even though he punished Starscream brutally in countless occasions, he couldn't fail to admit, at least to himself that the obnoxious Seeker was the best of his fliers. Besides he wanted to be the one who finally offlined the twit, not letting another do it. Silverstorm kept his calm until the rubble was cleared away but still he and his brother were the first ones to go through when the way became clear. They didn't care about the empty cell either, falling on their knees on the both sides of the fallen, unmoving, grey body of their Trine leader. Megatron didn't have to ask anything; the visible part of the body including the dark, ruined spark-chamber was enough of an answer. It was completely unexpected, the ruthlessness of the Autobot who came to free Thundercracker – they didn't often displayed such ferocity. But then… Seekers were strange creatures, prone to violent moods, and that Bumblebee was a Seeker now.
The brothers lifted up and took away the body and the rest of the Decepticons didn't much care; with the deactivation of the Air Commander and SIC of the army a power struggle was on, mechs vying for advancement and undermining rivals all over the place. Megatron named Soundwave as his Second but he was silent on the Air Commander's post, to see who would show promise out of the fliers. Silverstorm didn't obviously put himself forward, because he knew that he was rather young for the post, but his friendship with Soundwave that he was careful to maintain so far gave him a good position. The late Starscream was not even mentioned any more – few missed his screech and his wildly swinging moods, even in his trine. Silverstorm was silent on the matter, sharing his thoughts only with his brother.
Megatron also forgot about his former SIC and focused more on the rescued Thundercracker, whom he still wanted to see deactivated. He gave orders to everyone to kill him on sight, whenever they meet, and even contemplated another plot to capture him again. But Silverstorm surprised him with what he had to say.
"Lord Megatron, the matter might bee moot. The security footage shows that Thundercracker's damages were near fatal and we know that warping puts a strain even on an uninjured mech. He might already be deactivated. A reconnaissance mission should be enough to ascertain of that fact and it would forego any plan to kill him." – He glanced at Soundwave questioningly, silently asking his opinion and support.
"Assessment: might be correct. Laserbeak: to be sent is sensible."
"Very well, Soundwave, send in Laserbeak to gather info about it." – Megatron already looked bored and uninterested by the matter. If Soundwave and the Seeker both thought Thundercracker dead, it was possibly so; which meant that at the end of the matter he wouldn't even have a traitor to kill. It was enough for him to already start plotting a new action, some kind of a battle with the Autobots or an energon raid… in his meta, he already got past the matter of the troublesome Seekers. Soundwave sent his cassette to the Ark with specific instructions and in the meanwhile, he went about his usual duties.
Prowl
Ratchet's voice disrupted Prowl's train of thought as he contemplated Prime's suggestion in his office about a special mission. - "Prowl… I'd appreciate if you'd let Bumblebee out to come to med-bay."
"Why, Ratchet? His punishment doesn't end for some orns yet."
"Slaggit, Prowl, don't go all callous on him – or me - now. It is about Thundercracker."
"Is it medically necessary?"
"Well… no. If it were, I'd've ordered you to release him. But as it is now… look, I ask you to be a bit lenient…" – Prowl was surprised at Ratchet's voice and unusual demeanor. He sounded like dead tired – which was probably the case as he spent the last two joors with the Seeker's repair. If he asked such thing instead of demanding as he usually did, it must have been important as well as unusual.
"Very well. I shall take him to the med-bay now."
Prowl put aside the datapad he was working on, and proceeded to go to the brig. Bumblebee was only allowed out to do his usual shifts, mainly monitoring and inventory duty so far and nothing outside the Ark; for a Seeker, even for him, this was very heavy sanction to be locked up for any length of time. Besides, he was punishing himself enough, Prowl mused in himself; he knew that what he did was wrong and his responsible, dutiful nature gave him all the grief and contrition over his actions. Still, the SIC couldn't make himself to talk to his former lover aside from what duty demanded; their relationship ended in such a discordant note that he couldn't come to terms with it, couldn't forgive to Bumblebee for choosing the other Seeker so fast, so soon, so… unexplainably. They didn't even look at each other on the corridors, until they reached the med-bay doors. But the med-bay when they entered was empty of both Ratchet and a Seeker; and they looked at each other alarmed, not understanding. Ratchet stepped out from one of the side-bays as soon as he heard them entering and waved them in there. Unbeknownst to them a pair of red optics also saw the gesture from the air-vents and Laserbeak also shifted to the indicated place, guessing correctly that those three would have the same business as he; to see the former Decepticon Seeker.
A strange dread started to build up in Bumblebee as he moved across the med-bay; Ratchet's face was unreadable but it was alarming in itself, just like the way he held his reactions in check which was definitely not like the usual modus operandi for the medic. He stood in the doorway of the side-chamber almost like he wanted to obstruct their way… when they stepped in there, Bumblebee saw Thundercracker lying on a table, his injuries hardly even healed, obviously in a critically bad condition and he looked at the medic in a sudden mixture of anger and fear.
"What is it Ratchet…? Why is he not repaired?"
Ratchet looked back at him with a matching angry helplessness and answered quietly. – "Because I can't. His systems continued to deteriorate even while we got him back here. Everything just… disintegrated and still continues to do so. We did something really wrong with that sealant gel… and I cannot turn the process back. It works like cosmic rust now…"
"NO! It's impossible! You can fix everything, Ratchet!" – the shout was almost begging as Bumblebee moved closer to Thundercracker's still, hardly twitching form. He touched his hand but jerked away his fingers as the metal started to fall apart under the lightest contact. He couldn't believe it. After everything they did, what he achieved, the hardships they came through… it was impossible to lose TC. It was just… not fair.
"Can't you put him into a stasis pod until you come up with… something?"
"I can't move him any more… you saw how his structures fall apart now…"
He moved closer, trying to make contact without actually touching him. - "TC… can you hear me…?"
"He can't hear you now. I am sorry. It is a matter of time now…" – Ratchet looked at Bumblebee with compassion and pity – and motioned Prowl to leave the two Seekers alone for the last few breems that they had. Laserbeak stayed in the vent above them, watching until the form on the table stopped its slight twitching and the remaining dark blue colour grayed out. Since he gathered the required information faster than he expected he left quietly, not noticing the suddenly watchful blue optics that followed his way out from the vent system. Bumblebee used to utilize the same shafts as Laserbeak now and knew how dangerous they were to them; and so he left quite a few hidden sensors everywhere that lit up small LEDs underneath the ceiling plates, signaling their use. But presently he was not going to do anything with the little spy who was apparently only interested in Thundercracker's fate, just like him…
Prowl left Bumblebee in the med-bay knowing that the Seeker could not be doing anything useful for the time being; he felt just a little pity for the two of them. He was concerned already with the planned mission that was Optimus Prime's idea. If Skyfire managed to contact nearby starbases and call some wandering Autobots to Earth it would greatly enhance their chances against Megatron's forces. He knew that Magnus could not send any troops as he needed all his mechs on Cybertron; but there were always some mechs wandering the universe, ending up in odd places here and there who could be collected and reintegrated to the troops. He plotted the most efficient course for the shuttle that would take him to hopefully useful places but the real work was his to do; to convince mechs who forgot about the cause or just turned civilians would not be easy, but who would know it better than Skyfire who was just half-convinced himself to fight in the war. It would take some time of course to make the round and return, possibly decaorns or even more, but he hoped at the end it would be useful.
Bumblebee
In a few more orns Bumblebee returned to duty, released from his punishment; Optimus didn't hold what happened against him for long and Prowl's cold, impersonal attitude didn't change any since their breakup. The others, his friends mostly understood what he did, or at least why he did it, so he was mostly just questioned about what happened and not disapproved of. They all knew how hard it was for him with the capture, the change of body, the emotional upheavals; all that happened left its mark on him and his friends mostly hoped that he would slowly return to his usual self – or as close to it as was possible. Thundercracker on the other servo wasn't among them for all that long and only acquired a few acquaintances, so he wasn't missed – that is he wasn't missed by anyone else but a certain yellow Seeker who was doing his utmost not to show it. After he left the med-bay he didn't even talk to Ratchet, not to mention anyone else about his feelings; since then he was the very example of fulfilling his duties and not stepping outside the rules for even a single inch. Mechs noticed that he was far less cheerful than before, spent far less time in the rec-room socializing and he was involved with nobody really, not even the Aerialbots with whom he mostly had to work with. Some were concerned of course, and tried to talk to him; but he didn't open up to anyone about his feelings. In his free time he more and more went for long, lonely flights and although Silverbolt was sometimes worried about these, he couldn't find anything suspicious about the trips.
Although, Bumblebee mused one day as he flew out… he should have. But he used to be a spy, a scout, a Spec Ops mech, and he hasn't lost his abilities with the new body; it was easier to deceive his naïve Aerialbot shadows than the naturally suspicious Decepticon ones that he had to deal with before. After Silverbolt lost his lingering suspicion and stopped sending someone after him, he still didn't slacken the precautions; the secret he had to keep was more serious than anything before and he must not fail to protect it from everyone. He wanted to be alone these days a lot, but more than that he needed to be alone. Like today, when he flew out far to the south just to double back and check the airspace for any followers; and finding none he warped quickly back to a certain mountain range where he had a rendezvous. They were there already, waiting for him to arrive. He gave them the expected time of the shuttle's arrival and they synchronized their plans for the last time; the less they met the more secure they all were from any suspicion. They never became friends, not even since he understood their reasons better; he learned a lot from them that he hasn't understood about his Seeker heritage and not even Thundercracker could tell him; the brothers were raised purely on Seeker traditions, in Seeker environment on Cybertron, their coding and protocols never corrupted by Earth, by Decepticons influence or Megatron himself.
Silverstorm
They came to like these meetings with Bumblebee; the younger Seeker was inexperienced, he hardly knew anything about what he was, but eager to learn and quite a pleasant companion; not quite friendly but civil enough to work together. The plan that they set in motion was slowly but inexorably nearing to fruition and now they got the final data to work with; so far they subtly fed the news of the shuttle's mission to Frenzy and Rumble and the two cassetticon took it to Soundwave, who from then on kept an optic on it by way of Laserbeak. He also gave the news to Megatron who consequently didn't even suspect it coming from the Seekers, which was their goal. They would disseminate the latest news the same way, to have a trusted pair of optics there when they 'accidentally' encountered Skyfire and what he brought back from his recruiting round.
After going back to the Nemesis base, they proceeded to do exactly that, and consequently weren't at all surprised when an orn later they were ordered on patrol a specific area at a specific time; Soundwave cited confidential intelligence report that pointed to a potentially dangerous development in the Autobot ranks. They were to follow what Laserbeak and Buzzsaw relayed to them outside the Autobots' sensor range and to provide backup if those two needed any. They complied of course, glad that it wasn't the Conehead Trine getting the assignment; although they initially had some advantage in vying for the coveted post for the Air Commander, they constantly, in every battle proved that the three of them had not a single tactical circuit in their processors. Silverstorm on the other hand supplied Soundwave with sound analyses after each skirmish and was definitely sure that the telepath shared them with Megatron as well. Things were going their way and Silverstorm didn't want to lose the contest, even though he didn't initially want to enter it at all; but in the Decepticon army such defeats usually meant a world of bad things to the losing side which he'd rather avoided if he could.
So a few orns later they were there, cruising just over the ocean and watching the streaming video from the flying cassetticons, who stealthily spied on the Autobots gathering just outside the Ark, in the desert floor, apparently excitedly waiting for something to happen. The early warning system at one of the Jupiter moons gave them the final signal of an Autobot shuttle approaching earlier that orn and they knew him for Skyfire, returning from his mission. It was imperative to know how the Autobot force grew as it directly impacted on their strategy and chances so the two spies watched the proceedings with a precise interest.
Skyfire landed softly, the big shuttle handling Earth's gravity and weather with a practiced ease, thudding down to the dry desert floor with hardly a sound. The Autobots gathered near his cargo doors, eagerly awaiting someone to emerge – it meant that the shuttleformer was actually successful in his mission and brought back mechs to the Autobots; reinforcements to the army, new adversaries to the Decepticons. The first two shapes that appeared in the door were average built mechs that they followed with mild interest but no worry; but the next two made all watching Decepticons grow anxious to the point that they hardly saw the last one, a bigger, warrior-type who was accompanied by a minibot. But their attention was on the two biggest shaped mechs – the two fliers, curiously looking around in the unfamiliar planet.
Unlike the others, they wore no Autobot faction markings, meaning that they were Neutrals, but it didn't discount the fact that their presence here meant that the Autobot flier ranks just went up another notch. Silverstorm wondered how it all turned so; for all during the war their side was absolutely ruling the skies with all the Seekers joining Megatron, while the Autobots lacked even the rudiments of an aerial force. Yet, here on Earth they stood now almost on equal numbers; even if he counted the inexperienced Aerialbots less than their actual number, they now possibly had a full Seeker Trine with Bumblebee and the two Neutral Seekers. It promised little good for the Decepticon cause, he thought, not with the Coneheads unable to follow the simplest strategy through.
The Autobots of course were overjoyed by them, he noticed with a touch of wry humour, for them it must have been a stroke of luck to find two Neutral Seekers who were actually willing to work with them. Silverstorm watched the pair carefully, wanting to report every detail perfectly; Megatron would be angry, that was a given, but Soundwave would appreciate their input about them. One was a light, sky-blue colour with red and white highlights on the wings, with no armament that he could see; of course he didn't expect Neutrals to be armed outright, and it would change when they integrated in the ranks. The other was mainly white with some red and gold markings on the wings and on some plates; he also looked a bit smaller than his partner. Other than that they looked like regular Cybertronian tetrajets, as neither has yet scanned an Earth alt-form. Laserbeak dared to move stealthily closer to catch some of the conversations too, and soon they had some designations to go with the mechs; the lighter jet went by the name of Skyraider, while the blue one's name was Stormbringer. They took note of the other warrior-type mech who would surely be a worthy adversary on a battlefield; he went by the designation Rockcrusher. All in all the reinforcements were tipping the balance quite strongly towards the Autobots; especially with Megatron turning the crazier by the orn that many Decepticon noticed, albeit none dared to say aloud. They left the happy Autobots with a somewhat sour mood, taking back the not so good news to the Nemesis base.
Prowl
Prowl awaited Skyfire with his usual calm, collected demeanor, his battle computer already running scenarios of how he could integrate the new arrivals into the Autobot forces. Skyfire only gave the minimum information about them from outside the solar system, when he contacted the Ark the last time, but they know that the mission was a complete success with six new mechs joining the cause; even though the shuttle did stress that the Neutral Seekers were not yet totally decided to join up and asked for a little time to make the decision. But they all hoped that Prime and maybe Bumblebee could convince them to join eventually; a full Seeker Trine would do wonders to the grounder-heavy Autobot forces and a welcome boost to the developing but still rather young Aerialbots. All the new mechs were strangers to Earth, and he wasted no time in databursting them the necessary information about it and the Humans as soon as they landed. The Seekers would need applicable alt forms scanned and he made an appointment with the nearest Human airbase for that too, while the rest of the mechs could scan suitable alts in the nearby roads.
Even in the shuffle of the many mechs getting to know each other, he noticed that Bumblebee didn't come out to greet the new arrivals, although he knew that there would be fliers among them. He was still distant to most of his friends, Prowl noted, and absolutely avoiding him and Jazz too if he could help it. By this time Prowl did come around to see the Seeker's point of view a little bit more; not at the least because Jazz was quite insistent in explaining it to him in terms that were still not logical but he was forced to accept on his mate's word. True, his actions were not right and proper, but… as Jazz mentioned many times, love sometimes cause many mechs to do unwise things and at the same time he was doing his best, albeit inadvertently, to push Bee into the late Thundercracker's arms. Now, with the new Seekers – if they stayed – he would probably get even further from them, and Prowl was fairly sure that they have completely lost the once so much loved scout who became so different – and with that so distant too; no matter what Jazz still believed.
The Prime greeted the new arrivals formally, accepting the newly reiterated oath from those who used to be Autobots just drifted away from fighting; and inviting the Neutrals for a talk and getting to know each other better. After settling the new arrivals in, at the end of the orn a party was scheduled for the same effect with hopefully everyone attending, but first the Prime, Prowl, Jazz and Bumblebee proceeded to one of the conference rooms to have some more serious talks with the Seekers.
Optimus Prime
-Flashback-
Optimus Prime was fairly much floored, although not the first time in his long life, but still he could count the occasions when a mech presented him with a situation and a plan that he had absolutely no idea before but were as shocking as this one. The idea that Bumblebee and Thundercracker came up with was beyond anything he heard so far, even including the various Spec Ops mechs who regularly pestered him and the rest of the Command with wild scenarios during the war. The yellow Seeker at the requested meeting openly admitted that he hasn't included, and not even intended to let in on Prowl, who would not trust any Seeker and any such illogically based action. Besides, as he pointed out, it was to be a Spec Ops mission, meaning that with Prime's approval it was enough to involve the division's mechs, with Ratchet to help them out as necessary. Jazz was of course included as the head of the division and when he heard the plan wholeheartedly approved of it, saying approvingly that Bumblebee apparently hasn't lost his spec ops abilities with the wings as many mechs did; it was certainly interesting to watch Thundercracker glowering at the TIC after that and trying to hold back the retort that he desperately wanted to make. Jazz only smirked at him while Bumblebee scowled at both, but with a small smile hidden behind; and at the end all three broke down in a fit of laughs. It nicely set off the darker parts of the plan; he understood those too as necessary, but it didn't mean that he had to like them. But the blue Seeker, who would have to bore the worst of it was the one suggesting his part, citing that everything had to look believable; meaning that he accepted it and was willing to enact and bear what was necessary. At the end he gave his approval and the long-winded plan was set into motion…
-Present-
As they gathered in the conference room, Bumblebee quietly commed him to assure that they had no unwelcome visitor in the air-vents and Soundwave's cassettes were all accounted for – safely outside the Ark. It wouldn't pay off to go to all these lengths just to have a spy who would blurt out everything to Soundwave or Megatron. The two Neutral Seekers took the proffered places at one end of the table, while Optimus with his officers on the other, with Bumblebee in between them to the side. Still, when Optimus started, he was first turning towards Prowl with a distinctly apologetic expression.
"I am sorry Prowl, but the time has come to let you in on a secret that so far we kept from you; this meeting is the end part of a long Spec Ops mission that took a long time but succeeded so far because of the secrecy – the secrecy that we will continue to hold over all that will be said this joor. The others who were in on the plan know parts of it, but will hold the secret all the same – like Ratchet."
Prowl was visibly upset by the fact that any important mission could go on without him knowing it, but trusted the Prime to reveal the reason. His doorwings though told Jazz just how disconcerted the tactician was – and how much he would have to make up for his mate for the secret that was kept from his knowledge.
"I of course have no wish to foul up an apparently complex plan but I would appreciate the reason for the secrecy and some more details. I gather that our guests are part of it too…?"
"Yes. In fact they are the reason for it. It involves Seekers and their distinctive society that has always stood apart from usual Cybertronian behaviour even as far as not to be trusted by most mechs. It also involves some deviation from logical behaviour, which was the other reason for not including you from the beginning. Aside from your… issues with our resident Seekers, the plan has included them relying more on emotional role-play and improvisations than logical planning that it was decided that Jazz would be better managing it than you."
"We were directing the Con's attention to you as source of information in this matter, and it meant that your reactions had to be perfect, beyond any suspicion. Not to underrate your acting ability but we thought that it would be best if you reacted naturally. Which you did, much to our chagrin sometimes…" – Bumblebee spoke up without actually looking at Prowl, while one of the other Seekers' half-hid a smirk at his words, like he wanted to add his own words to what Bumblebee was telling but refraining at the last klik.
"I would really like to hear this secret now." – Prowl was getting annoyed, Prime saw, not in the least by the yellow Seeker's faintly superior attitude and he didn't delay the explanation any longer.
"Basically it was a convoluted plot to have two Decepticon Seekers defecting - but without having to worry about Megatron's anger directed at them afterwards – which as our sources divulged succeeded perfectly." – Prime wouldn't admit but he really enjoyed his normally unflappable tactician staring at him with jaw hanging, apparently fighting hard to avoid a crash of his logic circuits. Prowl looked at the two Seekers again, comparing them to what he knew about the Con forces and coming up with the names that were impossible – but logically the only ones he could think of. Prime continued to list the main points. – "Yes, I think you know who they were. Reformatted to tetrajets – and they will get new alt forms here – repainted to new colours, with new names that they chose – not that they liked that part, either of them - having a perfectly inconspicuous background story; their former selves deactivated and that fact proven to Megatron beyond suspicion. Also, regrettably we had to play roles for our Autobots too, to keep the secret and deceive the spying cassetticons."
The white-gold Seeker at the end of the table scowled again, somewhat still rankled by the complete reformat that he had to go through – he would need a long-long time to get used to his new voice, even as the altered programming made sure that he would react correctly to his new designation and the old one if anyone mentioned it. It was a fairly complex bit of coding to appropriately lock down on old memories and attitudes, so they wouldn't act on them and thereby reveal suspicious information to anyone.
Starscream
- Flashback-
Starscream was not happy about the plan, even after agreeing to it and setting it into motion. Sure it was complex and daring, it promised them a whole new life and new chances the way he never expected to have; but still it meant that they, and especially he had to give up everything that he achieved so far, what he was and what he wanted to do. Well, not all what he wanted to do, because after it was over he would have an even better chance to kill Megatron and in the ensuing power struggle grasp the leadership if he still wanted it – of which he was not that sure lately. All that philosophy that Thundercracker expounded upon over the vorns must have infected him more than he knew and the Trine issues just shook him to his very core – that he didn't even knew still existed. Starscream liked to believe that he was more than just any simple Seeker and was beyond the core programming that made fliers act the way they did for billions of vorns – but when it came down to the last he found that the oft-sneered Trine and his mates were still far too important to him, that he couldn't just let it go. He found that after all he was willing to go to great lengths to reclaim it – going so far that even his ambitions and the Decepticon cause was forced to take a background role.
Not that they were even fighting for that cause as all those vorns ago, he thought bitterly; privately he doubted if any mech in the Decepticon army could even reiterate the reasons, the causes of what they were fighting for - other than 'kill the soft-sparked Autobots' and 'wreak destruction'. No, it was a war for domination and power for a long time and less for ideals; and he had to admit that over the vorns the Autobots came out better in the 'just cause' department. It had something to do with the leadership; Optimus Prime, a soft-sparked fool that he was with delusions of honour, but still had more sanity than Megatron for a long time. And maybe compassion was not that overrated as he had thought either – the whole matter with his Trine-mates proved it to him with a nice smack in the faceplates.
And so here he was, watching Thundercracker suffer in the Nemesis brig so that in time they could be free, making sure that he didn't get deactivated by an overenthusiastic Con, fretting nervously as to when he would finally see the flash of that yellow light signaling Bumblebee warping in and play his role. He was assured that Ratchet did his best to save him from most of the pain by tuning his sensor-net way down and giving him an implant that fed him painkillers all the time; but he played the tortured role so well, that even Starscream was almost convinced by the noises and reactions he made. Still, he acted his own part and was fairly relieved when Bumblebee finally showed up and played the avenging hero for the security cameras. The little hologram generator worked perfectly, Silverstorm assured him while they carried his body out; the dark, empty spark chamber was a fearful sight even for him, who knew that it was a fake; and it fooled every Decepticon, even Megatron. Which was of course the very reason for the whole charade. The Seeker brothers convinced Soundwave in their own special way and would remain there for as Jazz termed it being 'sleeping agents', while he and TC would return in a new form – the one part which he hated most in the whole thing.
Thundercracker wasn't very happy about it either, but still he was the one to convince Starscream to go along with it; he knew just how obsessed Megatron would be with recapturing any defectors, especially someone as important to him as Starscream. There was simply no way to defect as they were and expect a long life among the Autobots; in this way at least they would be free of abuse and hunting, they could be Neutrals, allied to Autobots but retaining their freedom; and be a whole Trine again to rebuild what they lost, only healthier this time. And that was the deciding factor for Starscream – much to his own surprise.
-Present-
Starscream lifted a still too white, still too strange face, gazing at Prowl with the new, silver optics. He designed his new look, just as Thundercracker did his; overall they were comfortable with them, but both had some details that will take some time to get used to – the way back with Skyfire was hardly enough time for it. He saw the slow understanding at Prowl's face, as the tactician's battle computer crunched up the facts, the revelations, the connections - and made sense of them. It was good that they didn't have to explain a lot to the mech, he thought wryly – any detailed explanation would take orns. His smooth, light voice was a wonder still even to him, and he saw TC glance at him bemusedly too while they talked on the way out and back here; he was not going to miss the screech but he lived with it for so long that it almost became a trademark to him.
"I'm glad that you put together the whole thing so soon."
"For this you also needed inside help I think… how?" – Prowl was almost visibly putting together the complex puzzle as his sharp mind missed nothing but he wanted to put every detail to its correct place.
"Yes… this part is what you probably wouldn't have been able to accept easily; but being a Seeker is somewhat above belonging to a faction, as we said many times. Silverstorm and his brother helped because for a Seeker it was the right thing to do. They are not Autobots, not even quasi-Neutrals like we are… but they are Seekers, and that fact might be important even in the future."
There were of course still a lot of details to squabble over, but the main points had already been agreed on earlier, when the plan was put in motion; the newly (re)united Seeker Trine would be officially allies, living and working with the Autobots, integrating to the power structure but retaining some independence. Optimus was all too happy to recognize the right of the Seekers to stand apart even if it was mainly just symbolical; they were wronged in many ways before and at the beginning of the war and it sort of put things right – and Starscream appreciated the mech's ability to apologize without words and make amends when it was not required – but needed none the less. He knew that the Autobot leader didn't do it for the power that they represented, but for a cause… a cause he was if not happy but comfortable with. After all… was it not freedom of choice that they started to fight for on the other side – and gained it on this one?