Author's Note: Thanks to Lovely Rain Dancer (Optimus and Elita balance each other well and trouble is indeed brewing) and KayleeChiara (Thanks again for the wonderful review!) for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing of Transformers you recognize.


Alternatives

"Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move."-Sun Tzu


While the leaders of the two factions planned and schemed, someone else was making his own plots. He had lived far longer than anyone had a right to live and had seen more than one war come to pass. He knew what would have to be done in order to counter Sentinel's plan and he also knew that neither of their new leaders would survive the coming war without him. That didn't mean, however, that he wouldn't do things on his own time. After all, he did have unfinished business to take care of first.


Day 13 of the Fifth month, 0635 hours-Praxus


"Remind me again why we're here?" Nyana asked as they crept through the streets of Praxus, shadowed from early morning sunlight by the tall buildings.

"The joy of it all," Jazz deadpanned and she sighed, following him warily around another corner. "Haven't you ever been to Praxus before?"

"Once," Nyana returned. "Alix always says it's too much of a hassle." The one visit to Praxus had not left pleasant memories behind. Everyone entering Praxus for any kind of business had to register, including Cirque de Soliel, and the dark comments about circus trash had stuck long after they'd left. Alix had been furious. Nyana had pitied them for their ignorance. Regardless they'd never returned to Praxus again.

"Then you know it's famous for its enforcers," Jazz said, ignoring Nyana's aside about Alix.

"We're here to talk to an enforcer?"

"I am here to speak to an enforcer," Jazz said, finally turning to face her. "You are going to stay here."

"What?" Nyana managed to get out but it was too late and Jazz was already gone.


Day 13 of the Fifth month, 0642 hours-Kaon


The first tap on their door was a light, polite motion, a friend attempting to find out whether or not someone was around. When neither Sideswipe nor Sunstreaker made a move to acknowledge the knock or open the door it was promptly kicked in. "So did you finally decide to do him in?"

"Who? Jazz?" Sideswipe asked, glancing up from the sword balanced carefully on his legs. When Elantra nodded, dark curls bouncing with the motion, he rolled his eyes. "Who are you trying to kid? We couldn't kill him if we tried." Sunstreaker let out a low rumble of agreement and Elantra sighed in exasperation. "What are you doing here?" Sideswipe continued, ignoring her irritation. "I thought he had you in Archon."

"He did," Elantra said shortly. "I'm here because I'm looking for him." Elantra was another member of Jazz's network. The short tempered brunette had worked with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker before until she'd killed her handler for the games and been forced to leave or be killed. Jazz had sent her to Archon to connect with another contact he had there.

"Well he's out," Sideswipe said and grinned when Elantra growled at him. Even when they'd worked together she'd been easy to irritate; almost as easy as his twin.

"I know that," Elantra snapped. "I want to know when he'll be back."

"When he's finished seeing to another of his contacts," Sunstreaker spoke up, stopping a potential brawl before it started. "Give us the message and we'll let him know the gist of it when he returns."

Elantra took a deep breath, calming herself before dealing them in. "The Decepticons have sacked Syntach and Internym. Rumor has it that after this return trip they're headed to Archon. I want to know if we need to move." Sunstreaker nodded once, message acknowledged, and Elantra spun on her heel, sliding past the broken door and leaving the brothers alone again.


Day 13 of the Fifth month, 0654 hours-Praxus


Barricade had a hand on the main door to the precinct when something caught his eye. It wasn't much, just a glimpse of steel and the swirl of a dark coat, but it was enough to pause him. Smokescreen almost slammed into his back at the sudden halt in motion, head snapping around to glance at the spot his partner was staring at. "What is it? What'd you see?" Smokescreen demanded, tone almost hopeful. They had been patrolling for the last week with absolutely no kind of trouble and both of them were reaching a state of being bored enough to cause trouble.

"Nothing," Barricade said, waving his partner off. "Just an old friend. You go in and check in with Prowl. I'll meet you there in a minute."

"It better only be a minute," Smokescreen called as Barricade headed for the ally. "Otherwise Prowl will have your head." Barricade just laughed, waving his friend off before slipping into the shadows. Jazz was waiting for him, well hidden by the shadows. Barricade wasn't necessarily tall by any means but he was enough taller than Jazz that he could afford to slouch against the wall so they could see each other eye to eye.

"What is it?" he asked gruffly, keeping carefully watch of the street around them. Being seen by someone with a person as infamous as Jazz would be bad not only for the precinct but for Barricade's health.

"The Decepticons," Jazz said. "You know of them?"

"Yeah," Barricade replied with a snort. "The whole cities split half and half about the affair. Someone people are going on about how Sentinel Prime's some kind of god sent down to earth and we should follow him and the other half is saying he's insane."

"His current sanity is debateable," Jazz replied with a shrug. "But irrelevant."

"Then what do you need?" Barricade's status within Jazz's ranks of informants was fairly inflexible. His position as an enforcer meant that if he abandoned his post he'd never be able to return to Praxus. That, in turn, meant that Jazz had continued to leave him in Praxus rather than repositioning him.

"The Decepticons are recruiting," Jazz replied. "I need you to join up." Barricade let out a heavy sigh at that, shaking his head once.

"Fine," he said after a moment. "Where am I headed?"

"Badlands between Kaon and Syntach. That's where they make their base at the moment."

"You do know that you'll have to find another in here," Barricade said after a moment, shooting a rueful glance at the precinct behind him. He would miss this place after he was gone even though he had no doubt that he would be kept busy with his new assignment.

"I need eyes and ears inside the Decepticons more than I need information from here," Jazz returned.

"And why not send the twins?" Barricade asked, using his last hope to avoid this.

"Because anyone who knows their reputation will never trust them," Jazz replied. "And they desperately need information on Praxus. They'll let you inside the inner circle and that is exactly where I need you." Barricade nodded once, acknowledging the fact that he wasn't getting out of this assignment. Then he turned on his heel, heading for the precinct to face the wrath of Prowl for being late for the last time.


Day 13 of the Fifth month, 0731 hours- Iacon


"Good, you're back." Aurora was the one waiting to greet them when Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker landed. She was tapping a foot impatiently but other than that seemed composed. "We need you."

"What happened?" Starscream demanded, following her into the palace and through the main ballroom where bodies still lay scattered like broken dolls across the floor.

"Sentinel Prime announced at the event you missed that he was going to start a new union and it was a pity none of us were going to be around to see it. He slaughtered most the guest, including most of the high council, and took most of the guards with him. We're operating with the few members of Megatron's guard that we have left," Aurora replied, her tone almost as fast as the pace she was setting. For the moment Starscream was stunned into silence. Skywarp was equally silent, staring around at the destrution with wide eyes. Thundercracker was the only one composed enough to ask the necessary questions.

"How many do we have left?"

"Maybe twenty within Megatron's guard and only nine flyers," Aurora replied. "That's counting you three."

Starscream forced his vocal cords to work again so he could ask, "Can we draw from the enforcers?"

"Megatron's working on that," Aurora said. "We sent a messenger to Vos as well but the fact that they're ignoring us doesn't bode well."

"How long ago was the message sent?" Starscream inquired, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Twenty-four hours ago," a new voice cut in. Megatron was leaning against one of the stone pillars waiting for them. None of them bothered to salute him even though he was the Lord High Protector. Seekers followed their own protocol and part of that was only giving respect to those that had proved themselves already.

"Curse them," Starscream snarled, instantly understanding what was happening. Vos was siding with Sentinel. "I don't know what he promised them but they shouldn't have agreed to it."

"They've gone to the other side then?" Megatron asked, looking exhausted.

"Probably," Starscream said, his voice mingling with Jetfire's. The other Seeker had just entered the room at Megatron's question and looked every bit as grim as Starscream.

"And if so we're in trouble," Jetfire continued. "It's possible that we'll keep the Seekers we have now but nine against the legions of Vos is like signing your own death warrant."

"So we're doomed then." The final voice that cut in turned all eyes to the doorway. Optimus leaned against the doorframe, exhausted an defeated. "I should negotiate now before we lose any more lives."

"And if you do that you'll kill us all," Starscream snapped before anyone else could speak. "I'm sorry but your father has gone mad and madmen don't negotiate." There was a moment of silence and then Megatron nodded in agreement.

"We'll send out recruitment notices tonight. We may not be able to prevent the next couple strikes but our father will be coming for us. And this time we'll be ready."


Day 13 of the Fifth month, 0809 hours- Veda


Fireflight stumbled along behind her brother, staring wide eyed at the chaos around her. "What's going on?" she demanded, yelping when someone almost ran over her. "Slingshot, what's going on?" Her brother had been walking her to school when some had stumbled into the main square, screaming something that she hadn't paid attention to until chaos had broken out.

"The Decepticons are coming," her brother replied, pulling her out of the way of another fleeing person.

"What?" Fireflight asked, stumbling to a stop and shoving frizzy black curls out of her face with her free hand.

"Sentinel Prime and his insane lackeys," Slingshot spat, glaring at a man who shoved into his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Fireflight all but wailed, the panic of the crowd infecting her. Slingshot hesitated for the first time that day, glancing around before kneeling down in front of her, a hand the same shade of dark caramel as her own skin brushing back the curls that refused to stay put.

"Mom and Dad didn't want you to know but I think we're beyond the point of keeping you ignorant," he said. "You know the army that sacked Syntach and Internym?" Fireflight nodded, eyes wide as everything else faded away for the moment. "They're calling themselves the Decepticons and they're being led by Sentinel Prime." Sentinel Prime? Fireflight mouthed the name for a moment, stunned, as her brother stood and tugged her after him again through the thinning panicked crowd. "Come on Fireflight, we need to find shelter." Fireflight nodded, stumbling after her brother, and that was when the first wave of Decepticons struck.


Day 13 of the Fifth month, 0700 hours-Praxus


Nyana paced impatiently in the alley she'd been left in, feeling increasingly edgy. People were watching her, eyeing her with a mixture of distrust and interest. She forced herself to stop pacing, leaning against the wall and trying to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes, hoping the darkness would help her stop the coming panic attack, and almost jumped out of her skin when a hand landed on her shoulder. "Hey little lady," a voice sneered as her eyes snapped open. "You lost?" The question was innocent, the smirk on the face of the man who had asked it, not so much.

There were all kinds of lowlife thugs in the slums of big cities but every time Nyana had run into one she hadn't been alone. This time there was no one around her that could, and was willing, to help her. She was a stranger here and in the slums helping a stranger could get you killed. "No," she said as politely as she could manage, hoping beyond reason that he would go away. "I'm just waiting for someone. He won't be long."

"Well a man shouldn't keep a lady waiting," the man said, leaning in close enough to her that she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Please leave me alone," Nyana responded with a forced smile and the man sneered derisively at her. He was just opening his mouth to say something else when a hand tapped him politely on the shoulder. The man turned and Nyana's eyes went wide as Jazz drew his fist back and punched the man squarely in the face.


Next chapter these characters should appear; Nyana and Jazz, Optimus, Elita, Megatron, Starscream, and Aurora, Soundwave, Jinx, and Blaster, and Fireflight and Slingshot.