Undercover
Cleargold
Chapter 10: Parley
A/N: Groon: hour. Deca-cycle: Approximately three weeks.
Transformation cogs: I was wondering about this for a long time, but decided to include it as part of the story when I found out that all Transformers have one. I thought I'd better include a note to this effect when I was reading up on something and came across a thread which made it clear that a lot of fans think that only the city-sized Transformers have them.
Rated M for adult themes.
To all of you who've reviewed, faved or set up alerts on it, thanks for doing so.
Disclaimer: I do not own TF, Hasbro and Takara do. I'm just a housewife writing for entertainment purposes, so suing me would hardly be worthwhile. However, I do own the OCs in this story.
Acknowledgements: As ever, many thanks to Mirage Shinkiro and Mdnytryder for betaing for me and to Angelina Ballerina for listening as I read this chapter aloud.
*
"Starscream to Base. Permission to enter."
"Permission denied, Starscream." Megatron made his tone distinctly chilly.
"What?" Starscream must have expected this kind of reception, but he sounded indignant. "What for?"
"You go off with the Autobots for repairs I expressly forbade, and expect to be welcomed back?" He's too useful to me to seriously think of keeping him out, but it won't hurt to make the point. "You are seriously delusional, Starscream."
There was a pause that suggested Starscream was struggling for words. Then he said, "Just remember that without me you wouldn't have either the pleasure programme or data exchange terminal plans, or the cogs...and I don't think your data capture kit would have gottenall three!"
"True..." After a short hesitation, intended to make Starscream think he was considering his options, Megatron fingerstabbed the switch, and the tower broke the waters, its entrance opening. "Very well, Starscream. You may enter. Report to me in the control room."
The tower's CCTV showed Starscream slipping inside, presumably hoping to get in before Megatron could change his mind. But when his Air Commander failed to arrive and he spotted him slipping along the corridor which led to his quarters, Megatron decided it was time to send a private digital channel communication. He won't be expecting that. [Starscream. Report to me in the control room immediately.]
It was almost two breems later when Starscream finally arrived, and there was a faint, sweet scent of energon about him. But he stood in the familiar insolent stance, legs apart and head slightly outthrust, chin tilted provocatively up so that he could survey the room from the superior position, hands loosely linked behind his back in a parody of the "at ease" position.
Megatron felt the ire rise in him, but squashed it down to retain the advantage. "Ah, Starscream," he murmured, a sardonic tinge to his voice. "I trust you're fully fit, courtesy of the Autobots' talented medic?" He suspected Starscream hadn't thought his plan through beyond getting himself fixed up, because instead of giving one of his smart answers, he just dipped his head in apparent acknowledgement. And he's probably too proud to admit that I hurt him when I beat him up in the first place.
He crossed round behind Starscream as if inspecting his troops. "Attention!" Starscream jerked upright by reflex, hands rigid at his sides.
Megatron grabbed Starscream's wrists. He yanked hard and pinned them behind the Seeker's waist. Then he jabbed his knee into the sensitive place where his wings joined his body.
"Aaargh!" Starscream yelled.
Over the vorns Megatron had learned the vulnerable points of each of his lieutenants; Starscream was no exception. He knew just where to hurt him to keep him under control. "How dare you disobey me?" he hissed through his teeth. "You're lucky – I need you functional for your next mission. If it weren't for that I'd strip you to your wiring and flog you with an electric lash." He gave Starscream's wrists a shake. "Do." Shake. "You." Shake. "Understand?"
"Y-yes..."
"Good. Then your initial task is to fix up the mess in the holding cell, and when you've finished that, you can continue with your teaching duties. Alone. Thundercracker, Skywarp and Astrotrain will be assigned elsewhere during the daytime." Megatron released Starscream with a shove which tumbled him to the floor. "All leisure time is cancelled for the next deca-cycle, by the way. You'll report for regular twilight shifts in here as well as your shooting instruction duties."
*
It was the middle of the Earth night by the time Starscream had finished repairing the holding cell bulkhead and pumping out the water; too late for his teaching duties. He returned the equipment he'd been using to the stores and wandered down the corridor to the quarters shared by the four femmes, rubbing each sore shoulder in turn.
A knock at the door brought no answer. Probably with their partners for the night. Starscream suppressed his envy and checked his internal chronometer. He'd need to be up early to fit two shifts in, which only left him with a few groons for recharge. He left a message for the girls on the door intercom before making a booking for shooting practise.
Back in his quarters, the temptation to contact Chromia via the digital channel they'd used became overpowering. But he knew he should avoid that; the best thing for both of them would be never to meet or have any contact, at least until he no longer had inappropriate feelings for her. She was probably recharging, anyway.
He sank onto his berth and got into the most comfortable position he could find, then quickly shut down so that he didn't have to think about her. But his recharge was disturbed by dreams of Chromia; yet in the morning, all he could remember of them was the vision of her face before him and the impression of a terrible danger.
The femmes always had daytime training sessions. Starscream stretched, gulped down his energon ration and hurried to the shooting gallery in the leisure complex. A number of Decepticons were there, including Blitzwing and a couple of the Stunticons, but there was no sign of the femmes. As he waited for them to arrive, Starscream watched the others competing for the highest scores. When they noticed him, some of them beckoned him over and invited him to join in, but Starscream hung back, explaining that he was waiting for his apprentices.
"You mean the femmes, don't you?" Wildrider grinned.
"Where's your Autobot girlfriend?" asked Drag Strip, malice mingling with curiosity in his expression.
"Gone home," Starscream mumbled, feeling a shock tear through him. He'd hoped that keeping quiet about his feelings would simply make them go away eventually. He hadn't banked on Megatron's exposé, and in the Nemesis, rumours travelled at lightspeed. Megatron had humiliated him many times, but never over a femme before. Even when Starscream had humbled himself in the past it had always been for an acceptable reason – like survival – but he could discern no such motivation for Megatron's action. It's just spite, because he thinks I betrayed the Decepticon cause by falling for an Autobot femme. But if he hadn't left me on the battlefield, I wouldn't be in this position now!
Resentment boiled over inside him. He raised his arm. Sighted his null ray cannon on Drag Strip. The Stunticon must have realised what was about to happen because he scrambled backwards to get out of the way. Starscream followed his movements and fired.
Drag Strip crashed immobile to the ground.
"And she's not my girlfriend," Starscream threw over his shoulder as he walked away. He could feel the others staring at him.
"Hi, Starscream!"
He turned.
"Oh, you're all fixed up." It was Dreamtime, followed by her friends. They crowded about him, stroking the edges of his wings, touching his arms.
"Hello, girls." The attention was balm to his wounded dignity and spirit. In the past he would have accepted their attentions as his due, enjoying and taking pride in it. The realisation made him aware of just how much his involvement with Chromia had changed him; now their attention calmed his battered emotions.
"Did you just say Chromia's gone home?" Tendertouch asked.
He nodded, unable to speak.
"Ouch! Sorry, Starscream," she continued. "But we liked her. She was kind to us. She helped us all a lot."
"I – know." Starscream thought they seemed genuinely sad that Chromia was no longer there. Strangely, that also soothed him, as if it gave his own sorrow and sense of loss legitimacy. "Let's do some shooting, girls."
Blitzwing approached them. "How about us against them?" he suggested.
Blitzwing wants to make sure I don't shoot him too, Starscream thought. "Perhaps later," he returned curtly. "We've some revision to do first." He turned back to the four femmes. "I want to see how much each of you remembered before we continue, and once we've worked on today's battle tactics topic I'll check out how much you've learned near the end of the day. If you want to compete against them after that," he jerked a thumb towards Blitzwing and the others, "we'll squeeze in a contest near the end."
"That might be fun," Hot Stuff murmured.
"I don't feel ready," Shadowkiss objected.
"Do you ever practise with your boyfriends?"
"Do we ever –? All the time, Starscream, but not shooting!" Tendertouch shuttered one optic in a slow, deliberate wink.
"I didn't mean –" Starscream began, then laughed. Her joke had put everything back in perspective. "Well, girls, at least you've got your sense of humour back! Let's do some shooting."
"Where are your assistants?" Shadowkiss asked. Her tremulous little smile betrayed her nervousness.
"On daytime shift," Starscream said. "It's just you four and me today."
Several groons and a large chunk of battle theory later, Blitzwing came over to watch them. The Stunticons followed him, even Drag Strip. All the femmes had improved their aim now, and their reflexes were starting to be very good as well.
"Not bad at all!" Blitzwing commented.
"We have a good teacher," Shadowkiss smiled.
"I came to ask if you wanted that competition." Blitzwing was looking hopeful.
"Depends what you think you'll get out of it," Starscream grinned back. "And what they're going to get out of it."
"How about this: if they win, they get a rematch. If we win, I get a kiss from each of them."
It was evident that, like the news of his crush on Chromia, gossip about the girls had spread like wildfire among the Decepticons. They might find it hard to live that down in the future. It seemed the Stunticons, at least, already regarded them learning to shoot as something of a joke.
"We all get a kiss from each of them," Wildrider added, grinning.
Starscream snorted with laughter. "D'you really want to take on Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker and Astrotrain? Possibly all at the same time?"
"What, no confidence in your training methods?" jeered Drag Strip. "Don't you think they'll win?"
Starscream realised Drag Strip had learned precisely nothing from his demonstration of power that morning. Fragging lunatic. But he kept his tone mild as he said, "Well, we'll see. I'll keep the scores. Let's shoot, girls!"
The femmes shot well. They were only outgunned by the battle-hardened Stunticons and Blitzwing by a small margin – mostly thanks to Drag Strip's efforts.
"We claim those kisses," Blitzwing said. His grin was triumphant. "C'mon guys – let's collect!"
"On your head be it," Starscream sighed in mock resignation.
*
Megatron onlined with the realisation that the pressure he could feel behind him on the berth was Dreamtime, her arm bent about his middle. He twisted onto his opposite side so he could face her and raised a hand to touch her face. Her expression held a serenity that he hadn't seen before, and his own mouth curved in an unconscious response. He lay watching her until she stirred, stretched and made optic contact with him.
"How are things today?" she asked.
"Pretty good," Megatron grinned, "and even better if we can remove Stomp and free Kaon from his grip."
"Then let's do it!" Dreamtime said, and rolled off the berth into a standing position.
"You're different today," Megatron said. "More positive."
"I feel different, since the sex the last few nights. That was so good –
very beneficial for me."
"Me too." He swung himself upright. "I'm going to call a meeting with my Air Invasion Force."
"What time is it? You don't want to call them too early if they've had a night like we did last night!"
"True." Megatron watched Dreamtime, realising she was the first stabilising influence he'd ever really had. He shrugged. "We'll give them another four breems, then." He strode over to the cupboard where he kept his private supply of energon, brought out a bottle and two glasses, and filled them. "Here you are." He handed a glass to her, settled into the chair before his computer and took a long pull at the liquid.
"Of course, if you call Starscream you can get him to contact them."
He glanced at Dreamtime, savouring her slow smile. Her suggestion was sensible. Starscream will be on his own and is probably already up and about. He crossed to the intercom. "Megatron to Starscream. Megatron to Starscream. Respond. Over."
"Hhhhh. Starscream to Megatron. Over."
Megatron ignored the sigh and told him what he wanted.
"What's the plan, Megatron? Are we retaking Kaon?"
"Of course. You didn't think I wasn't going to take Stomp out of the equation, did you?"
"I never thought otherwise for an astrosecond, Megatron."
Megatron ignored the sarcasm. "Then arrange this meeting for me. Out." He jabbed the off switch and turned back to Dreamtime. "I think we've got time –"
She came into his arms without prompting, and he lifted her onto the end of the berth.
*
A groon later, Megatron stood before the Decepticons in his meeting room. Dreamtime and her friends sat at a table in a corner, and Starscream and the other Seekers stood behind them, together with Astrotrain and Blitzwing.
"Decepticons!" Megatron surveyed the room. He nodded in satisfaction. Every Decepticon in the base was crowded into the room. "I've called you together here to tell you what's going to happen over the next few solar cycles." Megatron indicated Dreamtime, Shadowkiss, Tendertouch and Hotstuff. "Some of you have been somewhat envious of myself and some of my colleagues here, following the successful mission to Cybertron to collect some femmes. There has been speculation that I would build some. Until now that hasn't really been a possibility, or my intention, but recent events have provided all the data to do that. Work will be commencing immediately." Megatron paused and looked around the room. "If you wish to register a request for one, see Soundwave at the end of the meeting."
"But Mighty Megatron, how will you get personalities for the femmes?" asked Starscream in a sly tone.
Megatron interpreted Starscream's question as another attempt to undermine him publicly. But he gave no sign of this as he replied, "In the usual way. Optimus Prime has shown that he's not averse to making temporary truce, and we have something he'll need for his femmes. The other reason for this meeting is that we need to retake Kaon and stop the criminal Stomp from what he's doing to femmes living there, and possibly in other places on Cybertron. My plan is to combine the two objectives."
"Do you have any detailed plans yet?"Starscream persisted.
"Yes. You and your trine will infiltrate Stomp's organisation and find out the extent of its infrastructure. His weaknesses too. We'll need to know whether he's planning to expand his influence, and where. In the meantime, we'll be building the femmes requested in Wave One, and preparing for battle, although I should emphasise that the plans are somewhat fluid at this stage."
Megatron looked around the room as his warriors let out cheers and whoops at the news. Even Starscream's expression had brightened, and everyone, except Thundercracker and Skywarp, seemed in high spirits about the forthcoming battle – and presumably the prospect of more femmes.
"Hey, Astrotrain!" Skywarp exclaimed, "How come you get to stay with your lady?"
"Dunno. Maybe I'm Megatron's favourite –"
"I need him and Blitzwing here for other reasons," Megatron said, before Astrotrain could finish speaking. He caught Starscream's optic as he added, "Now that we have some femmes here, we're in a better position to build some new ones of our own. We can use their vital statistics to design our new – er – population. Soundwave?"
"Yes, Megatron."
"Take the registrations. I have a call to make."
*
Chromia looked around the control room of the Ark. All the off-duty Autobots were there, crowded into every available space. She looked back at Optimus and listened hard as he began to speak.
"Autobots, I've called you here this morning to discuss Chromia's intelligence, gained during her imprisonment along with Starscream at Decepticon HQ." Optimus summarised for the Autobots what Chromia had told him during her debriefing. "And Project Aurora has reached the stage where it has two problems: we need to return to Cybertron to acquire personalities for our new femmes, and without getting entangled with the Decepticons. We knew we'd reach this point eventually, though we weren't quite sure when. However, despite the distractions we've had, we have managed to keep fairly well to schedule."
"Optimus, there's a call for you." Prowl appeared puzzled.
"Who is it?"
"Megatron."
"What?" Optimus's brow-ridges lifted until they met in a right angle. "What does he want?"
"He won't tell me...but he says it's urgent."
Optimus looked as puzzled as Prowl did, but excused himself from the meeting. "Put him onscreen."
Prowl complied.
Megatron's image filled the screen of Teletraan 1. His smile held mockery and a certain satisfaction. "Optimus Prime!" He said it as if he were welcoming an old friend.
"Megatron," Optimus acknowledged, rather more coolly.
Chromia wondered if he was glad of the concealment his battle mask offered for his emotions.
"Do I gather you wish to return to Cybertron shortly, to acquire personalities for your new femmes, Optimus?"
"Hmm. I suppose Starscream was the source of that information...Why are you calling, Megatron?"
"No need for suspicion. I thought I'd propose a deal between us, one that would be of mutual benefit."
Optimus tapped his battle mask with a finger as he considered the onscreen image of the Decepticon leader. "What had you in mind?"
Megatron paused, as if gathering his thoughts, before replying. "This is the situation. One: you will soon require transport to Cybertron for a large number of Transformers, and I have access to the space bridge. Two: we will soon have our own group of femmes requiring personalities, so we have the same problem. Three: last time we were both there the defences of Vector Sigma took some defeating, for both our sides. Four: an upstart criminal has taken over some of my turf, and in the process abused the femmes Starscream and his wingmates brought back to Earth to keep us company. Five: If our new femmes – or yours, come to that – return to Cybertron, with Stomp still wielding the power on the ground around Kaon, none of them will be safe. Shockwave has found indications that he may have already expanded beyond just Kaon. Six: We intend to take him out for various reasons, including that. Seven: You were lucky enough to recruit to your ranks the excellent medic Ratchet."
There was dead silence in the Ark's control room.
"So," Megatron continued, "seeing as it would benefit both sides, why not work together in this instance? We trade you the use of the space bridge and safe passage to Vector Sigma and back for your new – er – recruits, and you help us in acquiring personalities for ours, and in making Cybertron safer for all femmes. I'm sure Chromia has told you about Stomp and our berth-mates, and I've sent my top Seekers to Kaon on an intelligence-gathering mission – they've just left. But I also have a special request: that Ratchet help us restore the personalities of our existing femmes."
Optimus was silent. After many astroseconds he said, "I'll need to consider this, though it's quite an attractive offer. We're having a meeting at present –"
"Likewise."
"– so I can let you know my decision in about a groon."
"Fine. I'll expect your call then." Megatron's face vanished from the screen.
Optimus played the controls and was rewarded with a map of Cybertron.
"This is Iacon, where Vector Sigma is situated." He pointed. "This is Kaon, the location of the space bridge terminus on Cybertron, and where Stomp is apparently based. I presume that's where Megatron will engage Stomp. There's half the planetary diameter between them, and in order to fight on both fronts Megatron will have to split his forces. So would we. I'm not sure how practical that would be." He paced, considering.
"Optimus, I don't like this deal," Prowl said. "Megatron's offered us the use of the space bridge and safe passage, but he's asking for a lot in return."
"Yes, I noticed that," Optimus said. "But supposing the Decepticons left the acquisition of personalities for all the femmes to us, perhaps with a few Decepticon observers present. After all, we're better-placed to deal with that than they are, and if they want to retake Kaon, that's not a military objective for us." Optimus had known his predecessor, Sentinel Prime, when they had been stationed in Kaon, Chromia remembered; he knew exactly why the Autobots had retreated from the polar state.
"Yes, why should we get involved, and possibly hurt or killed, in their fight against Stomp?" Ironhide sounded indignant. "He's likely just a criminal. That's Megatron's problem."
Optimus held up his hand. "I'm not so sure that it's just his problem. Supposing our Project Aurora femmes are on Cybertron for any length of time. We want them to be safe while they're there, and from what Chromia told me, no femme is safe from Stomp if he gets hold of them."
"But why should we get ourselves injured in their fight?" asked Jazz.
"I can see you all have strong feelings about this," Optimus said, looking around the room. "So I propose a different arrangement for this part of Megatron's plan as well: that we send a few token intelligence operatives to help them scope out the limits of Stomp's crime empire, and leave it at that. With those two amendments we acquire a possible advantage in that we might be able to control the personality types of the new Decepticon females as well as our Project Aurora females, and we avoid getting involved in a fight that isn't, outwardly at least, ours."
An idea had been forming in Chromia's processor while Optimus had been speaking. She stood up. "Can I just say, Optimus, that I passionately embrace the cause of Cybertronian feminism, having seen what those poor femmes have suffered, and I will be proud to fight Stomp in whatever way I can."
Optimus Prime's optics widened as he regarded her in surprise. "Cybertronian feminism?"
Chromia explained about the human TV programme she'd watched on the Suffragettes. It seemed vorns ago now. "I realised that a similar situation has arisen on Cybertron as a result of the way Stomp treated the girls in his brothel, and it seems to me that to treat sex workers in that fashion is almost worse than if they'd been just ordinary femmes. I was appalled when I found out what they'd been through."
"It must be pretty awful being the berth-mate of a Decepticon, too!" Ironhide muttered beside her.
She turned, half addressing the meeting, half replying to him. "They don't see it that way. They're just glad that they have partners who want to help them get back to normal, Decepticon or not. And I'm not so sure they even know the difference – they've been pretty much prisoners, working inside the brothel throughout the war. But it has dented their confidence severely, and I'd like to help in any way I can."
"Maybe the reason the Decepticons are prepared to help them is that sex with a femme without a pleasure programme or data exchange terminal is less than satisfying," Ironhide insisted. "You can't surely be suggesting that Megatron and his ilk have genuine feelings for these femmes?"
"Let's put it like this," Chromia told him crisply, "every Cybertronian has the capacity for emotions. So I don't for one minute think they couldn't, though I am sure they wouldn't like it get out! I was there, remember? Even Megatron – he might not say so in so many words, but I'm certain he took me prisoner because he wanted to help Dreamtime."
"But you said these femmes are prostitutes."
"So? They're still femmes, and they have feelings for their respective boyfriends. Just because a femme is a prostitute, it doesn't mean a male can't have feelings for her, or she for him. And I know what it's like to love someone and not be able to spend time with them." Chromia could hear her voice getting a little louder and more forceful as she spoke. "Irrespective of any of that, I'm strongly committed to Project Aurora."
Optimus held up his hand for quiet. "Let's keep personalities out of this. Chromia, you're obviously fervent about the feminine cause – and I respect that. It was your passionate commitment to it that led you to come to Earth to help me with Project Aurora. So...what had you in mind?"
"Whatever he may say, I don't think any of us totally believe that Megatron will keep his word. As well as being prepared for that, perhaps we should go on the offensive, but in a way he won't detect." Chromia looked around the room. "He said he's sending Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp to Cybertron to gather intelligence about Stomp's activities. I think I could help them, and perhaps keep them distracted while you carry out your part of the plan, especially if you're trying to take the initiative from Megatron at Vector Sigma. At the same time I'll be able to get the same information they do about Stomp and his activities. Forewarned is forearmed, in case Megatron doesn't succeed in his part of the plan."
Ironhide was on his feet at once. His face resembled a terrestrial thundercloud. "I absolutely forbid it!"
Chromia faced him. "I thought you might say that."
Ironhide's face darkened further. "It might be flattering being courted by the mighty Starscream –"
"I'm not being courted by him, Ironhide. He knows perfectly well what my feelings for you are, and isn't prepared to overstep any boundaries. But I could probably make his feelings for me work to our advantage." Chromia watched Ironhide's expression change from disbelief to distrust. "And Starscream isn't about to let either of his trinemates offer me any harm. He'll try to protect me, I'm sure."
"I wouldn't count on it too much," Optimus warned her. "Whatever he may want to do, Megatron may not let him." He stood considering for a moment. "Still, your idea has some merit. What's your plan?"
Chromia explained her idea. "It's sure to bring Stomp out into the open, since Starscream and his cronies stole his girls –"
"You'd be the bait in a trap!" Ironhide snorted. He flung out a hand in appeal. "Optimus, you're surely not going to let her do this?"
"I'm going to at least consider it, without getting too emotional about it. Chromia's a competent field operative, and very capable of taking care of herself."
"But what if Stomp gets hold of her and hurts her? We'd be powerless to help, and would have to rely on Starscream. And whatever he might want to do, the other Seekers might not wish, or be able, to back him up."
"The worst way he could hurt me would be by doing what he did to those girls," Chromia interjected. "Optimus, you already have copies of my pleasure programme and the blueprint for my data exchange terminal. In the worst-case scenario they can be replaced when I return."
A silence fell in the control room of the Ark. Eventually Ironhide broke it. "Rape was more the kind of thing I was concerned about."
"Starscream had the opportunity, and didn't take it," Chromia said. "In fact, he went to extraordinary lengths to avoid it – "
"I wasn't thinking of him, not this time – we've known him and the threat he represents for a long time. But Stomp is an unknown quantity. Do we know if this pimp –" He spat the word out like a batch of bad energon. "– Made those girls sleep with him?"
"We could ask them. At least, I could."
"How can you ask them something like that?" Ironhide stared at her. "Sorry, Chromia, but it just sounds like a crazy scheme to me, and a formula for disaster!"
"Yes, well just remember, Ironhide – you may be my boyfriend but you don't own me. I belong to me, and I choose to do something for the benefit of all
Cybertronian femmes, including our own vulnerable new ones." Chromia expelled a sigh through her intakes. "We can't leave Stomp loose on Cybertron. He's a danger to all femmes."
"Chromia's right," Optimus said. "Stomp is too dangerous to be left in charge of Kaon – or anywhere else on Cybertron. Our new femmes will be vulnerable when they come online, and I won't allow them to be abused by this – creature." He looked around at his warriors. "So are we agreed on these two points?"
"Agreed." Prowl hadn't given an opinion up till now.
"Sounds better to me than his proposal," Jazz offered.
"Megatron probably knows he's asked for too much, and expects you to bargain with him over it." That was Ironhide's only further comment.
"Ratchet? What are your feelings about helping Megatron restore his original four females' personalities?"
"I don't have a problem with helping them. But I'm not keen to help Megatron. Anyway, couldn't Hook do that?"
"Who's going to build Megatron's new femmes?" Wheeljack asked.
"Probably...Hook," Optimus replied slowly. "And probably the other Constructicons."
Ratchet considered for a moment, then nodded. "I'd be prepared to try, Prime. My calling and oath dictate that I should. I'd like to know whether Hook has tried, and how much Megatron's managed, though – he's no mean programmer himself!"
"Indeed. Now, I might have to haggle a bit." Optimus walked back over to Teletraan 1 and played the controls until Megatron's image replaced the map of Cybertron onscreen.
"Optimus Prime. I didn't expect to speak to you so soon."
"The decision was easier than expected."
"And...what did you decide?"
Optimus told him the decision. He looked a little tense, Chromia thought. He probably thinks Megatron'll argue with him. Oddly enough, Megatron looked ill at ease as well. Chromia found herself wondering how much the Decepticon leader had really expected to get from Optimus. But there was no argument from the Decepticon leader. Optimus explained the concern the Autobots had over the threat to femmes from Stomp. "We're not interested in retaking Kaon, but we consider it important to see the criminal taken out for the safety of all femmes, particularly the new ones."
After much discussion it was agreed that Optimus would lead a force of Autobots, plus a small cohort of Decepticons who would be under his command, to Vector Sigma to acquire personalities for the new females of each side. Meanwhile Megatron, the main Decepticon force and a token group of Autobots would deal with Stomp.
"Can I suggest that each of the smaller forces should consist of warriors from either side, with any female partners?" Optimus suggested.
Megatron was quick to catch on. "Excellent! It will to be a motivating factor for the forces of the opposite side to follow their respective commander."
"Exactly!"
Then Megatron added, "But two of the Seekers have female partners –"
"Won't the Seekers be joining you for the battle for Kaon?"
"Yes, probably, at the end, and their partners can be – will want to be assigned to Kaon, I'm sure."
That figures, Chromia thought.
"Now, about your request for Ratchet's services –"
"I was hoping he could come here to work with me on restoring the personalities of Dreamtime, Tendertouch, Shadowkiss and Hotstuff," Megatron interrupted.
"He's willing to do that with immediate effect, but asks in return that the four of them contribute information about Stomp's – er - business activities," Optimus said. "And as I have a volunteer here who is willing to work with your Seekers on intelligence-gathering –"
"The excellent Chromia, I'll bet," Megatron murmured. "Won't Starscream be surprised!"
Optimus acknowledged that with a little nod. "She has an idea as to how to draw Stomp out into the open, so it might be useful to get some background information for an authentic cover story for her."
"Good!" Megatron said. "I agree. Send Ratchet and Chromia to these co-ordinates to rendezvous with Astrotrain in one groon, and he'll bring them to our base –"
Ratchet stood up. "Just an astrosecond, Megatron. Why can't they come here? All my kit's here, and I'd have back-up from Wheeljack."
Megatron held up a hand, smiling a faint, knowing smile. "But I'm not sure that I'd be welcome in the Ark, even if we are temporarily working together! And our femmes are used to being here, and I'd rather not uproot them at present." He gave the co-ordinates.
Chromia noted with some amusement and scepticism that they were nowhere near the location of the Decepticon base, which was well-known to all the Autobots, and even to some humans, as Ironhide had reported.
Sounding very satisfied, Megatron said, "We'll speak again later, then –"
"Not so fast, Megatron! Before I send Ratchet and Chromia, I need a guarantee of their safety, and of their safe conduct back here after they've finished working with your four femmes. What can you offer me?"
Megatron looked a little taken aback, Chromia thought, but he recovered himself quickly.
"I can guarantee Chromia and Ratchet's safety, and also provide a guarantee of Chromia's safety while she's working with Starscream and his trine. I will personally see to it that everyone knows that they're to be kept safe, as far as possible. If we can't complete the reprogramming by the time our new femmes are ready, Ratchet will be returned to the Ark. Chromia will be sent back to you once she's spoken with our femmes. But I can't guarantee her safety with Stomp."
"Understood," Optimus said with a nod. "And will Ratchet and Chromia be guests or hostages?"
"They'll be honoured guests," Megatron said. Then he grinned as craftily as a turbofox. "For this occasion only."
*
Megatron rapped on the medbay door.
"Come!" Hook barked.
Megatron stalked inside. On Hook's operating table, Shadowkiss lay with her chest compartment open and many components spread neatly out on an adjacent trolley. Her optics were fixed on a gleaming mechanism, however: her new transformation cog. Hook was beside the femme, removing another part. As it came free, Hook lifted it out and placed it on the trolley, arranging it so that all the elements formed an exploded view of the order in which they had to go back. The other three femmes stood waiting for her.
Megatron looked around the room. "Progress report?"
"It almost takes longer to replace one of them than to build a femme from scratch!" Hook straightened, wiping a wrist across his forehead. "Shadowkiss is the last to receive a new cog," he said.
"Excellent!" Megatron allowed his lips to curve in a fierce grin. "We'll have to arrange for them to acquire alt modes next."
He strode over to the terminal in the corner of the room and activated it. "Dreamtime, come here."
She obeyed him at once.
"I'm going to upload you a standard-issue Decepticon firewall, since I noticed you don't have one." He looked at each of the other femmes in turn. "Don't any of you have them? Is this something else that Stomp did to you?"
"He erased all of them," Dreamtime said, before the other femmes could answer. "He said we didn't need them any more."
"Well, you do again now. Open your programming port." Megatron slipped a connector in place in her port and pushed the other end of the cable into a port on the console. A list of programmes flashed up on the console's monitor. He scrolled down until he found what he wanted, and selected it. In a few astroseconds it had finished uploading and he was able to disconnect Dreamtime and repeat the process with Tendertouch and Hotstuff.
"I'll do that for Shadowkiss when I've finished this work on her, Megatron," Hook said. "I can fit it in before I start work on these femmes you want. Blitzwing and the other Constructicons are out collecting suitable materials, as requested."
"Excellent," Megatron said. "Astrotrain should be back here in two groons to collect the girls."
"Where are we going, Megatron?" Dreamtime asked.
"To acquire alt modes so that you blend in on the surface. You'll be continuing your training with me now that Starscream and his trine are on Cybertron. We'll practice transforming and I'll give you some hand-to-hand combat training."
"Are we going to be gladiators, like you were?" Hotstuff asked, her optics very wide.
"Now there's a thought – female gladiators!" Megatron raised a hand towards the femmes. "Actually, no. But very soon you'll need to know what I'm going to teach you."
"Why?" Tendertouch asked.
Megatron fought to quell his impatience. "You might find it useful when we take revenge on Stomp." He watched their expressions change from curiosity to animation.
Even Shadowkiss, in her partly-dismantled state, looked suddenly very interested. "Why didn't Starscream teach us fighting as well as shooting?"
"It's my speciality, remember?" Megatron exchanged a glance with Hook. "Go and relax, girls. Shadowkiss will join you as soon as Hook's finished working on her."
The three femmes left the room and Megatron crossed to stand beside Hook. "Any luck with trying to restore their factory settings, like Starscream suggested?"
Hook had one hand inside Shadowkiss's chest compartment whilst reaching for the cog on the trolley with the other, but he managed to shake his head. "They're tied up tight, all right. But it was worth a try."
Megatron acknowledged that with a curt little nod. Perhaps Ratchet would be able to come up with a workable idea.
*
The wind bit into the grass and trees at the rendezvous, whipping them towards the two Autobots standing beneath the trees as if bent on highlighting their location to the Decepticon they were to meet.
"Ouch!" Chromia swiped at a branch that had been trying to scratch her optic glass. The weak organic material broke under the combined effects of the blow and the wind, and she watched as the twigs were swept towards the valley below, where a human settlement nestled, straddling the river which cut through the valley floor. For once she hoped their contact would arrive soon; anything was better than standing here out in the open, attacked by the terrestrial elements.
Ratchet caught her arm. "Astrotrain's here."
The purple and grey space shuttle was approaching at high speed. He circled above them once, twice, perhaps looking for a suitable spot to land, then came down to rest on the hilltop above them. "Hurry up, Autobots," he called. "I hate this mudball worse than ever when it's windy or rainy. And I especially hate being sent out to collect Autobots."
Has he ever had to do that before? Chromia wondered, as she and Ratchet jogged up the hill. But it seemed that Astrotrain was being sincere when he said he disliked the weather on Earth, because he had his hatch wide open for them to enter, as if impatient to return to Decepticon HQ. They didn't waste any time. Ratchet climbed into Astrotrain's interior, followed by Chromia. The hatch clanged shut behind them.
Chromia wondered if she'd see Starscream at Decepticon HQ. Aloud, she asked Astrotrain if he'd been beaten up on his return as Optimus had predicted.
"Nah," Astrotrain said. His answer, and apparent willingness to talk to her, surprised Chromia. "He was only back two Earth days before our glorious leader despatched him and his trine to Cybertron. Couldn't send him busted up, now, could he? It'd have drawn too much attention on our home turf. Besides, he wouldn't be able to transform, and he needs to be able to do that right now. And it'd have taken too long for Hook to fix him up."
"And he didn't send you?" Chromia asked.
"Yes – I had to take them there!" Astrotrain said. He sounded indignant. "They give me all the slag jobs."
Chromia suppressed a smile. "Couldn't they have used the space bridge?"
"They needed to take some kit with them." He paused before muttering, "And Shockwave's a bit jealous of his precious space bridge. Doesn't like it used for anything that doesn't include energon shipments."
For the rest of the journey Astrotrain was silent, and before long they were inside the Nemesis and marching beside him to the Control Room.
Megatron rose as they entered, and indicated the four femmes standing nearby. "Excellent. Astrotrain, conduct everyone to my meeting room. I'll be there shortly."
Astrotrain beckoned for them to follow him. Dreamtime, Shadowkiss, Tendertouch and Hotstuff crowded around Chromia as they walked.
"We wanted to talk to you again, but you'd left the base," Shadowkiss said.
"I've come back to talk to you now," Chromia said. They're really innocent in a weird kind of way, despite their previous profession, she thought. Surely they haven't become fully-fledged Decepticons yet? She surveyed their chassis and upper arms, the usual places for the symbol. No sign of the Decepticon symbol. So far.
"Megatron said you were coming back." Dreamtime looked at Ratchet. "Are you the medic?"
"Yes, this is Ratchet." Chromia waved a hand at him. "Did Megatron tell you he was coming?"
"Yes."
"What did he say about me?" Ratchet asked.
"That you'd try to help us."
Astrotrain stood aside and indicated a door. "This is it. We have to wait here."
Shortly afterwards Megatron arrived, punched the code into the door and led them inside. Chromia glanced around the room. It must have been in the centre of the Nemesis, because there were no windows, and it was completely bare of anything to distract its occupants. There was a table at one side of the room, with a computer on it and seats around it. One was large and faced out into the room. The rest of the room was empty, but from its size it was obviously designed to accommodate all the Decepticons in the base.
Megatron went to the largest chair and sat down in it, beckoning to the others to seat themselves. He indicated that Ratchet should sit next to him on one side and Chromia on the other, with the four femmes on her other side. "Have you got any questions you want to ask the girls?" he asked Chromia.
"Lots."
"Remember you have to ask direct questions to get an answer. Ratchet, I think it would be best if you just listen to them to get an idea of how their reprogramming works."
Chromia turned to Dreamtime and her companions. "Tell me about Stomp."
"What d'you want to know?" Shadowkiss asked.
"Anything you can tell me about him. Where was the place where you worked?"
"The brothel? It's on the bottom level of Kaon. Stomp made us move there when he took over from Whiphand."
"And what was it like working there?" Chromia could already see how difficult this was going to be, and she was worried that she would miss something important because she wasn't knowledgeable enough to start with, and said so.
"You'll just have to use your imagination," Megatron suggested with a broad smile and a glint in his optic, before Shadowkiss could answer.
*
When Chromia and the femmes had left with Astrotrain, Ratchet turned to Megatron.
"Sorry, but I've got to ask this. I know it's private, but...have you seen what happened when Stomp reprogrammed them?" Ratchet asked, sure that Megatron would have accessed some, at least, of Dreamtime's memories.
"He put them offline for it," Megatron said, shaking his head. "My guess is that I saw what happened up to that point, and after, but not during the process. I can tell the difference between Dreamtime as she was then and is now, but not how she got there. It's one of the things that make it so hard to unravel this."
They'd been talking to the girls for groons, asking them questions and noting the answers, but none of the femmes had any idea what Stomp had really done to them, since they'd all been offline at the same time.
"I need to know how reliable they'd be in an emergency, bearing in mind how much damage they've suffered," Megatron pointed out. "Hook did a preliminary investigation. I asked him if it were possible to simply restore their factory settings, but he tried and said they couldn't be accessed."
"I'm beginning to get an idea," Ratchet said, "but we need some way of testing it before I can be sure of what he's done."
"What d'you think it could be?"
Ratchet clasped his arms behind his head and sat back in his chair for a few astroseconds, apparently considering his ideas, before looking into Megatron's crimson optics. "I think he's nested programmes inside one another to make them inaccessible. And some of them – well, he's just deleted them."
*
Chromia stepped out of Astrotrain's hatch, turned and waved to the four femmes, and immediately transformed and raced away from the landing site. She'd insisted on being dropped a few miles from the Ark, since the Decepticons had their own pretence.
Behind her she heard the roar of engines as Astrotrain lifted into the air again, then headed towards the city of Portland. Megatron, with Ratchet watching warily, had told him he'd be in several kinds of trouble if he offered Chromia any harm.
The highways in the immediate area around the Ark were becoming familiar to Chromia, although her work with Project Aurora had meant that she had little time to explore the Oregon countryside. Having been used to the metallic surroundings of Cybertron, the luxuriance of terrestrial organic growth had amazed and rather fazed her at first. But she was getting used to it.
Although the road surface was uneven, and the road itself twisted and wound its way between the brush and rocks, it wasn't long before she could see the Ark's outline ahead, extruding itself from the volcano it had crashed into so long ago. Chromia felt her cybermusculature tighten at the thought that Ironhide was waiting for her there. They'd had a blazing row in their shared quarters after the public meeting. Nevertheless, she entered the approach corridor and zoomed towards the control room.
Once there she transformed and advancedmore slowly. Bumblebee and Bluestreak were on guard duty – though she'd noted on her arrival that they didn't always take it that seriously – and Optimus was standing in front of Teletraan I. Onscreen she saw that Astrotrain had landed in Washington Park in nearby Portland, and the four femmes were climbing out of his hatch. As soon as they were outside, Astrotrain transformed to robot mode and shepherded them to a vantage point among the outskirts of the trees below the Forest Discovery Centre, from where they could watch the passing traffic on the adjacent South-West Sunset Highway.
"It's all right, Optimus," Chromia told him, "Astrotrain has orders to see the girls get suitable alt modes. He's not up to any mischief."
"That'll be a first," Optimus said, continuing to watch the screen. "I launched a satellite to keep an optic on Astrotrain. We might as well know what those femmes' alt modes are," he added, and summoned Ironhide to continue to monitor developments. Then he added to Chromia, "Are you ready to be debriefed? And is Ratchet all right?"
"I'm ready," Chromia said. "I think Ratchet's all right. He was fine when I left."
"We have a tracker beacon on him," Optimus said, "though for all we know the Decepticons have software that can detect and disable it. But I'd like you to carry one for your mission as well. You can give Starscream the frequency in case he needs to pull you out of Stomp's premises at any time." He beckoned to her. "We'll go to my office to speak."
Ironhide appeared at the entrance to one of the corridors. As he approached he tried to make optical contact with Chromia, but she looked very deliberately at Optimus first, until she was ready to meet his gaze. She lifted her chin a little, and shifted stance until she stood with her stabilising servos apart, her back rigid, and her servos clasped behind her back.
"You're in charge while I debrief Chromia," Optimus told Ironhide. "I've despatched a satellite to find out what alt modes Megatron's femmes choose – Astrotrain's in charge of them. Don't attack them unless they cause trouble. Chromia, come with me."
Chromia was happy to follow Optimus. Ironhide had adopted an uncompromising pose before Teletraan I. It wasn't going to be comfortable sharing a recharge berth with him when they were off-shift.
In Optimus's office, Chromia recounted what she'd learned from the femmes about Stomp. When she'd finished, Optimus said with narrowed optics, "I got the impression you weren't telling us everything that happened to you at the Nemesis when I debriefed you on your return from the Nemesis, but I wanted to speak to you about it privately."
"You're right," she admitted. "I didn't want to say what happened between Starscream and me in front of the others. Ironhide knows, but he's not happy about it. Though I think at base he appreciates me being honest with him."
"Well?" Optimus asked. "Can you tell me now?"
Chromia nodded, and began to explain the more intimate interactions she'd had with Starscream. She left nothing out, but didn't go into any detail. She even mentioned the recording Megatron and Soundwave had made, in case it should resurface later on.
"I understand Ironhide's reactions," Optimus said when she'd finished. "I'm sure I'd feel the same if it were me. But I'll try to smooth things over while you're gone. I could see the way you two were glaring at each other just now." He put his hand on Chromia's shoulder. "If it should become necessary...you must be prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve success on this mission and keep Starscream and his trinemates out of the way. I don't want them interfering when we acquire personalities for the new femmes. I'll make things right with Ironhide about it. Whatever you have to do...I'll make it right. And you needn't feel guilty."
"You mean – you'll feel guilty for me?" Chromia compressed her lips into a half-smile. Optimus was being incredibly supportive of her.
"It's..." He shrugged. "It's a leader's prerogative."