Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.

Paul: Wow, for once you get a lot of action around me. Not sure if I should be happy about that or worried.

Authoress: What do you have to be worried about? You are a god after all. What can I possibly do to you?

Paul: *not buying it* Do you want me to count the ways you could mess with me?

Authoress: *innocent evil smirk*

Ch. 9: Upstream with All the Paddles

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

I paced back and forth on the platform as the Autobots were hanging around the base. Miko, for once, was here earlier than Raf and Jack. Jack had to run into work to cover for someone for about an hour and Raf had a tutor session where he was helping an upperclassman study for math class. So, Miko was the only one here that was human like I was. It was a good thing because, even though that was changing the episode slightly, one human would be easier to control than three. True, it was Miko but still, it would only be Miko.

"Prime!" Fowler's voice suddenly rang through the base through the comm.

Ratchet, and the other bots, moved to the screen while Miko came and stood by me. "What's going on Paul?"

I shrugged my shoulders and motioned to the screen. "Not sure. But, let's find out. If Fowler is calling us then it is going to be interesting."

She nodded and the two of us looked up at the screen, which now showed Fowler, before Optimus spoke. "Special Agent Fowler? To what do we owe this call?"

Fowler jumped right into the issue. "I need a favor Prime."

"Of course the fleshy does." Sentinel muttered to Pitch, who nodded in agreement. I noticed that Wheeljack shot a glance at the two.

…Frag it this is why I needed to get in touch with Lizzie again! I did not like being in the dark and it seemed that almost everyone knew about Pitch besides me!

Fowler, thankfully, didn't hear the mutter from Pitch and continued. "I need a favor Prime. I was transporting a device called the DNGS when something shot me down. I didn't get a clear look at who shot at me but I'm a sitting duck out here right now!"

"The what's it?" Blaster asked with a confused look on his faceplate. Yeah, the name sounded weird. But, the effect of the weapon was nothing to laugh at.

Fowler seemed to be slightly annoyed with this question as well. "It stands for Dynamic Nuclear Generation System, AKA the DNGS. It's a prototype energy source that I was transporting to the coast for testing. I could really use an assist." Fowler then paused and looked around before continuing. "I can't wait around just in case whoever shot me down comes back and tries to take this. If they are after the DNGS they could make a big fat primitive weapon of mass destruction."

"And what could this human weapon do?" Pitch asked with an unimpressed look.

In return, Fowler sent a very unimpressed with Pitch and made sure to talk in a serious tone. "If this baby were to melt down, it would irradiate this state and the four next door with massive dose of dangerous radiation…plus destroying most life in those four states."

Miko gulped from next to me. "Um…Paul? Did Fowler say what state he was in?" I shook my head and felt worry. If this episode went too wrong, we could be seeing a nuclear crisis and that would not be good. I just hoped that, contrary to my luck, this episode could stay somewhat on track. If I needed it any time I needed it now.

Thank Primus Fowler decided to speak again. "I'm a sitting duck here Prime. Could you spin up your bridge and send the DNGS to its destination before whoever attacks me get back?"

Optimus shook his helm slowly before answering Fowler. "I'm afraid that sending such a volatile devise through a ground bridge is out of the question. If there were to be an accident during its transmission, the radiation of which you speak could propagate through the ground bridge vortex and harm all fifty states…and beyond."

Well, everyone was now silent. Kind of creepy for the most part but that kind of damage would make Chernobyl look like a glass of spilled milk. Unfortunately, Fowler really looked desperate and I couldn't blame him. I knew that this was MECH attacking Fowler and, everything forbid, if they got the DNGS this time around, then that would cause an international panic. Countries didn't react well when things vanished and weapons of mass destruction tended to be a big deal when they disappeared.

"You got any better ideas?" Fowler demanded as he kept an eye out around him.

"Why don't we escort the DNGS?" Blaster suggested. "We could help out Fowler and provide the best protection for such a weapon. Plus, it would be a sign of good faith to the humans."

"Do we really need to be wasting our energon for a delivery trip?" Sentinel argued.

Thankfully, Optimus shook his helm. "The energon used will be worth the cost to help a friend." He then turned to the monitor, thankfully. "Agent Fowler, I will come through along with Blaster, Pitch, Bulkhead, Arcee, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee to act as escort for the DNGS."

Fowler looked relieved and I didn't blame him. "Thanks Prime. I owe you one." He then cut the connection.

I knew that I needed to be on this trip, and getting Miko on this trip would be credit for me to her. "Optimus," Optimus glanced down at me and I continued. "my company has access to special roads that we created for faster and safer transport of our technology. I can get you access to the roads. But, I will have to be with you. And, as an added stipulation, Miko needs to come with me. Fowler won't be the best company on this trip and it will be a long trip."

Most of the Autobots looked like they were going to say no to that when, to my surprise, Cliffjumper spoke up. "While I'm not a fan of Paul and Miko coming with us, having Paul with would allow us to finish this mission even faster than we planned and I could have both Miko and Paul with me just in case things go south."

I was surprised that Cliffjumper was the one that agreed with me. After the Skyquake incident, he had always tried to keep me as far away from danger as he could. It had taken so much convincing to allow him to allow me to help the kids patch up the lines when the scraplet invasion happened. Now, he was allowing me to go on a trip that already proved that something dangerous would happen.

We all looked to Optimus for an answer. The Prime was studying Miko and I before he nodded. "Very well."

"Sweet!" Miko let out an exclamation.

"However, Cliffjumper, at the first sign of danger you are to return them to base." Optimus finished. Cliffjumper nodded at that right away. Well, I guess this was Cliffjumper acting as a hovering guardian still. Probably figured I would find a way to go with anyways and, this way, he could keep an optic on me.

So, with that said, it wasn't long before our group rendezvoused with Fowler at his crash coordinates. The loading of the DNGS didn't take long and, in no time, we were on the open road. While we were driving, though, I realized that this episode had already changed in a somewhat large way. Fowler didn't immediately assume that it was the Decepticons that had attacked him. Either Fowler was just too panicked to blame the Decepticons, or maybe something bigger had his attention. With the changes happening in the timeline, we could have set off a course where MECH is a larger threat than was originally intended. If that was the case then this mission was even more dangerous than before. I was starting to worry that bringing Miko with was a bad idea.

"Hey Paul, what are you doing?" Miko asked me from the passenger seat, snapping me back to the present situation. She looked bored and I realized that, since I had insisted on her coming, that I should at least talk with her.

So, I motioned to the road ahead of us, since we were leading the group, before saying, "Well, just thinking about what is going on. Not many people would be told about the transportation of nuclear material and its route. I doubt this was just a random attack either. We are in the United States and most people would not be so…carefree, with losing their lives to shoot down a military vehicle."

Miko nodded and I saw her grow serious as she seemed to think. While she was normally the one that took chances, and many people thought that she was an idiot for some of her stunts, she was showing that she paid attention to what was going on around her. I was now even more glad that I chose Miko to take Lizzie's place instead of Jack or Raf. She seemed to adapt to situations around her quite well.

"Maybe there's some conspiracy to overthrow the government?" She put out. It was amazing that she came up with that answer…since that was technically what MECH wanted to do. It seemed like an insane suggestion to anyone else but, to me, it was a very real possibility. "If there was," She continued. "then they could have people on the inside of the government to keep up with information. They probably intercepted the news that Fowler was transporting this dinglehopper thing full of nuke stuff and then bam! Shoot him down and take the dinglehopper."

That was really close to the truth and I was glad that Miko saw that. Dealing with the bots meant that you needed out of the box thinking. While in most normal human situations, thinking that some dark horse group was going to take over the government was just a little crazy, this was different. Since we dealt with the Cybertronians, these kinds of things seemed to be much more of a reality than one would think.

I was going to respond to her when a fleet of green cars with black stripes raced passed us and, at that moment, I knew that things were going to get very interesting. Glancing in Cliff's rearview, I saw that Silas' helicopter was preparing to get into position. Scrap. "Cliff, I think we have some company." I hinted to him.

Of course, my guardian was ready with a quip. "You think Paul?" He then seemed to get serious as the MECH operative came out from the top of the car driving next to Optimus. "But, these definitely aren't Decepticons."

Pitch then got onto the Autobot communication line. "Really? What do we have to worry about humans for? It's not like they are a real challenge to us?"

"Don't underestimate the little guys Pitch. Trust me on that one." Blaster piped in.

"But what are humans doing attacking Fowler and the nuclear energy?" I heard Jack's voice come from the other side. He and Raf must have gotten there sometime after Miko and I had left.

Shaking my head, I decided to bring everyone back into focus. "We can discuss the why about this situation later. Right now, let's just get these guys to back off and get the DNGS to the next drop off point." I then focused as Optimus bumped the car next to him out of the way.

"Autobots," Optimus started. "maintain your cover and apply minimal force. Disarmament only."

Well, that wasn't so good. These guys had guns and high-tech equipment and they were going to only use minimal force. Great. Now I knew that this was going to,

I flinched as Pitch suddenly rammed the car that was passing on his right against the side of the canyon wall we were driving. What was his problem? He was lucky that the hit didn't cause the car to explode. Not minimal damage. "Sorry about that Prime. Got a little jumpy with them being so close." Pitch sent an apology, though I couldn't tell if he was being very sincere in that apology or not.

"Remember minimal damage Pitch. Humans break more easily than we do." Blaster reminded him and I could hear a worried tone in his vocals.

"That they do." I wasn't sure why, but I got a shiver go through my body when Pitch answered that and, from the look I took at Miko, she looked very uncomfortable with it as well. Seriously, the next time that I got in contact with Lizzie, I was going to ask her what the problem was with Pitch.

"Cliffjumper," Optimus started. I had a feeling about what was going to happen. "return to base with Paul and Miko. This situation is starting to become too dangerous for them."

Yep. We were being taken off the front lines.

But, I really couldn't argue with Optimus' decision. He was trying to look out for our safety and that was exactly how he should react. As Cliff slowed down and answered Optimus, I let my mind wander to Lizzie. Yes, a dangerous subject as of late but it was one that was necessary. During these episodes, the Decepticons were rarely seen, and even in this one the drones were the only ones that were going to be making an appearance. What would happen to Lizzie as more Decepticons made their appearance. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on in the series now that these events had happened.

On the Autobot side we had Pitch, Sentinel Major, Blaster, Blurr, Eject, and the recently arrived Wheeljack…who had decided to stay with the Autobots. As far as I knew, on the Decepticon side, they had Skywarp, Thundercracker, a functioning Megatron, and a now online Skyquake. As long as the Decepticons didn't have any other bots I didn't know about, then we had a slight advantage in competent soldiers.

But back to the point that I was trying to make, it seemed like this dimension was having both Autobot and Decepticon forces gathering here on Earth for some sort of 'War for Cybertron' on Earth. If Lizzie and I couldn't make peace between the two factions, or at the very least guaranteed the victory of one side before that happened, then we would be plunging Earth into a destructive war that would, more likely than not, destroy most of their population. The situation in this dimension was even worse now than it was back when I first hired Lizzie.

I snapped myself out of my thoughts as Cliffjumper stopped moving and I saw that we were in the base. Well, I guess there was really nothing I could do right now. The Autobots and Mech…and eventually the drones, would start fighting over the control of the DNGS now. If the train situation still happened, then I would make sure that I went with Miko. Having too many of us would be a risk but I knew Miko's reactions were sound enough for the situation we were in.

Walking up to the viewing area, I decided to make myself comfortable for now. I knew that this was going to be a long day.

Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.

If I got through this day without a headache of some sort, it would be a miracle. I had two training exercises for the day and, currently, I was on the second one. The first one had me studying the Battle of Iacon and that had so many complications to it that I did not want to think on it again for the long time. It wasn't even clear who had started that battle, but both forces had come down on the city and strategies had been leaving the command stations as quickly as they were being changed. It had taken me so long to sort out the flow of the strategies and how they were affecting the flow of the battle. Honestly, even though I only say the Decepticon side of this battle, I was impressed by the strategies in place to combat the Autobots.

Once I had presented my mock strategy to Megatron, he had shown me this and, while my strategy would have helped the Decepticons take a foothold in Iacon, and more specifically the Hall of Records, sooner, I had been thrown for a loop by the force of Autobots that had reacted to the capture of the Hall. Thankfully, a side strategy that I had placed into effect had allowed the Decepticons in this mock run to hold the Hall of Records. But, I didn't like how the Autobots had been allowed to get so close.

Now, I felt like the Battle of Iacon was nothing compared to the Battle of Tyger Pax. I was given the limited information that I was given before each battle and, honestly, I was not happy. Back in my dimension, when I was sure this was just some made up culture that humans used to make millions, I had been upset at the Decepticons…one of the few times I was really upset with them, with what happened. Honestly, I guess I was more upset with Megatron than anything.

But, now that I was working with the limited information that they had at the time, I was starting to see why Megatron went as far as he did. His reports before the battle had told him that Optimus was planning on ejecting the All-Spark, the very life of their planet as Megatron described it to me as I asked, from Cybertron to coordinates that, according to the reports, even Optimus didn't know. Besides the city-state that the Allspark would be launched from, Tyger Pax, and the fact that Optimus would launch the Allspark from somewhere inside the city, that was all the information that Megatron had.

So, as I looked at the battle, I knew what needed to be done. "We need to focus half of our troops on fighting on the plains. Megatron, you should be among them. This will allow you to focus on the main portion of the battle. The other half of the forces should be divided in half and should attack the west and east sides of the city-state." I then motioned to the front, where Megatron would be. "Have the scouts keep an optic out for any Autobot who would have more information on Optimus plan. Use whatever means necessary to obtain the information from the Autobots that are captured. Then, once you receive the information you need, you can personally fly to whatever location this Optimus has this Allspark in."

Yes, as much as I hated to strategize like that, I realized that it was the only option. While this meant that Bumblebee would be captured and, inevitably lose his voice-box to Megatron's questioning, it was what I would strategize if I was a Decepticon and the information that I had was this limited.

Megatron studied me for a few seconds with his red optics before nodding and inputting my simple, yet only, strategy that would work for this battle. Honestly, if we tried anything else, then the Decepticons would have suffered even more casualties and Optimus would have been able to simply launch the All-Spark and Megatron would not have had a clue as to even the general direction of the All-Spark…or if it had truly been ejected from the planet. With this savage strategy, Megatron was guaranteeing at least the knowledge of the All-Spark being ejected into space…and since that was the life-line of their species, then that was more important than Bumblebee having his vocalizer obliterated.

…I was losing my mentality…and I really didn't care.

As the mock battle started with my input, both Megatron and myself looked up as Skywarp suddenly teleported in front of us. Something must be going on for him to risk interrupting my training with Megatron again. Last time he did that, Megatron shot at him until he fled the room. I had never seen Skywarp teleport that fast.

"Lord Megatron, Soundwave asks that you and Lizzie report to the bridge. The Autobots are on the move and they seem to be under attack by a new enemy." Skywarp reported as he bowed.

Megatron glanced between Skywarp and myself for a few seconds before he nodded and placed his servo next to me. Once I carefully got on, for I knew not to risk getting Megatron mad while I was climbing onto his servo, Megatron rose from his seat and spoke. "Very well. This might prove to be some present time training."

Well slag. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. I had no idea where we were right now and, for all I knew, this could be Wheeljack coming in. The show was changing enough to where MECH could attack Wheeljack's ship when he was landing. That would make everything even more complicated than it already was. Hopefully, we were on Convoy and I would be dealing with MECH transporting the DNGS. I could deal with that. While lady luck seemed to be favoring me lately, I didn't want to push my luck.

Once we arrived on the bridge, Skywarp having already teleported that, I saw that, besides the three of us, there were Soundwave, Skyquake, Starscream, and Vox in the room currently. From earlier reports, Breakdown and Knockout had bridged to England for some sort of race, Thundercracker was scouting over Russia, and the twins were down on Earth doing…something. Megatron knew but I wasn't privy to that information.

I probably wasn't as worried as I should be about that.

Then, I focused on the movement on the screens and felt relief when I saw that it was the DNGS episode. Thank-you Primus! I was so going to be able to squeeze my way through this. But, I had to focus now. I could already see that things were going to be different from the show because Blaster and…Pitch…were seen firing on the screens. This wasn't so good. While I felt like Blaster might be an okay bot, I had a very strong feeling that Pitch in this dimension would be as bad as the one I was familiar with.

That reminded me that, next time I got Paul on the dream-phone, I had to warn him about Pitch.

"What do you believe we should do Lizzie?" Megatron questioned me.

I glanced at the screens again before making a decision…hopefully a good one. "Gather a troop of scouting drones, about six or seven Eradicons should be alright. Send them down there to study this battle. We don't know much about the force that is facing the Autobots and, since the Autobots seem to be fighting against them, then this new force may be dangerous. I don't think that these humans could hurt us physically one on one, but they seem to have the technology to at least pose the Autobots a challenge. We need more information on them." I then paused before saying, "Tell the Eradicons that this is not a fighting mission. Avoid getting into conflict with the Autobots if they can but, if they do, watch each other's backplates. This is an information expedition."

Megatron nodded before motioning to Starscream. "Starscream, scramble seven Eradicons and relay Lizzie's strategy to them." Starscream nodded before leaving the room.

Now…I was nervous. This was just like the satellite array incident. I was putting my neck out and, if something went too wrong, then I would cease to be.

It wasn't long before the Eradicons that I sent could be seen on the screen and I noticed that they were landing on a cliff far enough away from the Autobots to avoid most detection but close enough to get a feel for what was going on. "This is Berg, flight leader for this mission. It seems like the humans are chasing a train." The DNGS must already be on there. "There seems to be two of the Autobots' humans in the train as well."

Wait…only two? I was surprised that Paul wasn't a part of this. I would have figured that the god in human flesh would have wanted to be in this part to try and avoid more problems. But, that wasn't happening. If there were only two humans, instead of three, then that had to mean that Jack and Miko had, like in the show, gone onto…

…that looked too old to be Jack.

The drones had gotten a close view of the humans in the car and, while Miko was there like she was supposed to, it seemed like my boss decided to get in on the action as well while kicking Jack out. If that idiot got hurt and left me here alone to get both groups together, I was going to kill him. Right now, the arrangement that we had would work…hopefully. I would work on getting the Decepticons closer to peace and Paul could work on the Autobots. Of course, my end was a little trickier since I had to earn my place in the Decepticons first while Paul was already a bonified trusted person. But, I would admit that, after that little hurdle, I would be much better situated in convincing my side than Paul would.

I then paid more attention as the drones seemed to move their focus to the helicopter and, more importantly, Silas. I was nervous about how calm he looked, even as he had the tracks blown up. There was no hesitation, no emotion really. That was unnerving. It was even more so now that it was in real life now. This was not good…not at all. But, I couldn't focus on that right now. I had to get everything right so I would pass this little bonus class today. Everything else could wait.

"Berg, can you find out what the name of the human organization is before you return?" I questioned the team. I wanted to make sure that MECH didn't change its name. if it did, I might slip up later and I couldn't afford that. Not now and not ever.

"Yeah, I'll find out for you all before we," I then heard blaster fire and I had a feeling that, "Scrap! Lord Megatron, the Autobots have discovered our location. What are your orders?"

Megatron seemed to think on that for a click, and I was glad that I wasn't being asked, before he spoke. "Berg, sound a retreat for now. This was simply an information gathering expedition and not a combat one. Loss of life should not be risked for it."

"As you command Lord Megatron." Berg ended before turning off the comm. The rest of us watched as the Eradicons confronted on the monitors. I couldn't help but flinch as I watched Pitch ruthlessly strike out against the Eradicons near him. If I would have known that I had…I wouldn't have ever done it. Never. The look in his optics were haunting and it caused me to want and hide. It wasn't out of fear, as it was with Lord Megatron, but of uncertainty as to how far he would go to accomplish his goals.

Finally, the Eradicons could break away from the Autobots and our groundbridge was able to be sent to them. The second part of the bridge opened here on the bridge and so we watched as the Eradicons came out. Berg was only slightly injured, as were Bob and John, but Harry, Ethan, Shawn, and Sorrel, were in rough shape. "Lord Megatron," Berg started as he came in. "permission for Bob and John to help Harry, Ethan, Shawn, and Sorrel to the med bay?"

Lord Megatron nodded. "Granted." Once the six Eradicons left the room, Berg stood at attention as he was about to be spoken to. "Berg, what did you learn of the human organization?"

Berg did not waste any time in retelling his information. "From what we gathered, these humans are a part of a human terrorist organization that wish to reshape this planet in their own image. They seem to be well informed of human government movements and have weaponry that will cause the allies of the Autobots some problems."

"And what is the name of this group?" Starscream asked, having come back in after he had sent the Eradicons out in the first place.

The Eradicon stifled a laugh, barely, before he said, "From what we were able to overhear, this group is led by a human who calls himself Silas, and the group is called MECH."

That caused the laughter around the room like I thought it would. Yes, it would seem strange for them to have a name that denominated gender for Cybertronians. But, while the name was odd, I knew that they were not a group to take lightly. After this interaction with Cybertronians, at least from what we saw with the show, then they would at least be able to evolve their technology to pose even Cybertronians a serious challenge. With the changes that Paul and I…well, mainly I, had made, then who knew what they would evolve into now.

Glancing up at Lord Megatron, I saw that he looked concerned as well. "Everyone silence." The room went deathly silent when Lord Megatron ordered that. "While the name of this human organization is…strange, I believe I should ask our strategist in training what she thinks?"

Scrap. I could see all optics on me and I knew that I had to make a smart call and, while it might seem paranoid to make this call, I didn't want to take a risk. "I believe, Lord Megatron, that we should have a group of drones who can work through human databases try to gather all the information on this MECH organization as we can. While they seem like a harmless group now, they have seen Cybertronians in action and that could cause issues for us in the future."

To my relief, Megatron nodded. "Yes, that followed my own thoughts exactly. Humans are proving that they can be worth more than they seem. We must keep an optic on this organization so they do not rise higher than we would like."

Well, that was good. But, as I thought on MECH more, the more worried that I became. I had a feeling that they would be a stronger force to deal with this time around. I wasn't sure what caused me to think this way, but what I did know what that I needed to contact Paul. MECH was a problem that we could not afford to deal with while everything else was going off script. But, we would see.

Cliffjumper's 1st P.O.V.

I frowned as I paced in the base. We had just returned from delivering the DNGS and I was stressed. No, not about the mission. Besides that human group getting in the way, that went as well as it could be. The Decepticons were even easy to take care of since they only sent drones and those drones had retreated not long after we started to engage them. No, I wasn't worried about any of that.

What I was worried about was Paul.

He seemed very spaced out when we had started escorting the DNGS. But, I knew I couldn't blame the spaced-out attitude on that. No, he had been acting very cautiously ever since we had all discovered that his employee, Lizzie, was a prisoner on the Nemesis. That human that I had seen, and who was probably the reason that I was even alive, was the reason for Paul's disconnect with what was going on around him. As Paul's guardian, I wanted to help him with this. But, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to go about doing that. Most beings, in general, weren't that open about sharing their pasts about people who were in trouble…or deceased. It had taken me quite some time to get Arcee to tell me about Tailgate.

Glancing up at the human area, I saw that Paul was alone and he was fiddling with a game that Raf had brought in a few days ago. I was sure that they called the game chess. While I didn't understand how the game worked, I realized that I could at least keep Paul company. But, being in my bot form might hinder the connection I needed to make with Paul to get him to open to me more. So, I decided to use my soliform. We all had them but, with everything that was usually happening around here, we didn't get to use them often. Now, however, seemed like a good time.

So, I transformed into my alt mode and made sure I was out of the main walkways before I activated my program and had my soliform, Chris Jason, get out of the front seat and walk up to Paul. "Hey Paul."

Paul glanced up at me and looked surprised for a second before he relaxed. "Hey Cliffjumper. Haven't seen that kind of thing before. What is it?"

This was a great way to get Paul into a conversation with me. "It is a soliform. We all have the programing to pull this off but we don't get to use it often. The name for this one is Chris Jason while I am in it in public by the way." I then sat down across from him and motioned to the game. "So, I heard you all call this game chess. Want to teach me how to play it?"

In return, the CEO shrugged before setting up the pieces on both of our sides. After he explained the pieces to me and how this was a sort of strategy like game, we began to play. After moving a pawn two places forward to start my turn, I dived into what I really wanted to talk about. "Paul, you know that you can talk to me if something is bothering you…right?"

Paul seemed to hesitate before he moved his knight out onto the board. "Cliffjumper, I know I can talk to you. It's just…" I moved another of my pawns two places before he continued. "I'm not sure how to talk about this."

He then moved one of his pawns two places and seemed to be deep in though. I doubted it was about the game. So, as I moved my castle two places, I spoke, "Is this about Lizzie?"

A black pawn, his pawn, was moved one more place before he answered. "Yeah, it's about Lizzie." I moved a pawn in front of my queen two places. "It's been over a month since you saw her on the Nemesis and I'm worried. She was quiet most of the time but had a bit mouth if she thought something was wrong." He moved a pawn one space in front of his castle.

"So, she likes to speak her mind." I restated as I moved another pawn two places. He moved the pawn in front of his queen two places before I continued. "That might cause her some issues up there Paul, honestly, but I feel like you would have hired her for a reason." I used one of my pawns to take one of his pawns. He countered by using his knight to take my pawn.

Paul nodded. "Yes, I did. Lizzie knew how to adapt to situations around her. It has helped me during many of my meetings." I moved my bishop to take his pawn. He took my bishop with his castle. "But she is so young, and so spirited, that I'm afraid that might take over that quality that I hired her for." I moved my queen in front of my king. He moved his queen in front of his king.

I frowned before moving my horse in his castle's path. I thought he would take me with his castle. But, I forgot about his pawn. I immediately took that pawn with one of my own but I was now upset. I can't believe that I didn't see that. "Paul, you know we are trying everything we can to find her…right?"

The CEO moved a pawn two spaces. I moved my bishop one space. He then moved his own bishop one space before continuing. "I know you are Cliffjumper, but it is so hard to just sit back and wait. I got to where I am today by working hard and being active." I took his knight with my bishop and he took that with his own bishop. Seeing that my queen could take his castle, I struck. But, I forgot about his bishop and he took my queen.

Frowning, I moved my castle to a striking distance. He moved his pawn up one space. I shook my head and spoke. "Paul, I can imagine it's hard for you. It's like if I was kept out of a battle against the Decepticons. But, sometimes we have to give up doing what we want for the greater good." I took his pawn with my castle.

And I immediately regretted that when he took my castle with his queen. That wasn't good. Quickly, I moved my remaining knight into a position where, next turn, I could take his bishop. But, he moved that bishop and took my last castle. Seeing that, I moved my knight and took his pawn. I was hoping that he would take my knight with his queen and then I could use my pawn to take his queen.

"I understand the greater good is important," Paul started as he studied the board. "but I built my company on saving all that I could." He then moved his last knight forward. What was he doing? I responded by taking his pawn with my knight. "It's like this game Cliffjumper. Right now, you technically have more pieces than me. But, think of the pawns like drones. You have risked your strong fighters and now," My soliform eyes then widened as he took my knight with his last castle. "You sacrificed your king's closest allies to try and destroy mine. But, I used my pawns and managed to trap you." I then moved a pawn up in hopes of distracting his queen.

But, that didn't work as he just moved his queen and he had my king in checkmate. "I lost." I muttered as I stared at the board. True, I was new at this version of the game, but we had a similar game on Cybertron, Fullstasis, and I usually was pretty good at it. But, I had let Paul take me to the car-wash in this game.

Paul sighed and started to reset the pieces. "You need to remember that those around you are very important. I run my company like I play chess. I am the king and the other pieces on the back of the board are those people that I trust with my very life." He then held up his queen, and I saw sadness in his eyes. "Lizzie is like the queen. While there is no romance between us, and there never will be, she is one of my strongest protectors. She can move in any direction that she needs to protect her objectives." He then held that piece close to him. "But now, she is missing and in danger. I can only move one space at a time, much like the king on the board, and it is driving me crazy."

I looked at my own queen and sighed. So much for me cheering him up. I just ended up causing him to think of Lizzie more while I got my aft handed to me. "Paul, we will find her." I added as a last-ditch attempt to help him feel better.

Thankfully, Paul smiled and nodded. "I know." He then motioned to the board. "You Autobots are represented by another piece on my board and I trust that you will help me find her with whatever you have." He then stood up and stretched before sitting back down. "So, you want to play another game?"

Smirking, I nodded before moving my pawn two places forward. This time, the game would turn out much different.

Paul: Well, that wasn't so bad. I beat Cliffjumper at chess.

Cliffjumper: Hey! I was just learning chess.

Blurr: *walks in* But didn't he beat you in the next fifty games you played before Optimus came in and beat Paul in their first game?

Cliffjumper: *mouth open* Wah...Uh...HEY! *pouty* It's just...I was going easy on Paul.

Paul and Blurr: *sarcastically* Sure.

AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! I know I did. We got our first peak at MECH (don't worry they will be coming in more later). Also, we get to see Lizzie practice some of her strategist training with Megatron. Looks like she would have made the same decision as Megatron during Tyger Pax. Seems like Lizzie is starting to embrace her role on the ship (though it isn't official yet...and may not even become official). Then, we had that fun chess game at the end and we get some insight into what Paul's plans were, if you noticed. I didn't make it obvious but it is definitely there.

That's all I have for this chapter. Now as a good girl, I had best announce the next chapters' titles! *announcer voice.* Next time on Resolve of One!

Chapter 10: Only Logical

Chapter 11: Aiming for the Checkered

Chapter 12: ? (Find out next time!)

Well, that's everything. Please leave a review, even to say hello! Flames will be used to prank Pitch and Sentinel. Until next time then, TTYL! *listen to Iron Man by Black Sabbath*