Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Pandimala: Ok, now, how are we going to do this?
Authoress: Well, we are going to have to be secretive.
Balm: Plus, we can't let any of them know that we are doing this.
Tana: Sounds simple enough.
Beam: But, with our luck, nothing is ever simple.
Whirlwind: Yeah, especially since we have the bondmates that we do.
Authoress: I'm not telling if you don't.
Ch. 12: Scouting Day
"Ok 'Mala, I think it is safe for you and Malwing to go home now." Balm stated.
Pandimala was relieved when she heard that she could now go home. It wasn't like she didn't like spending time with Balm, but she was ready to go home. She wanted to show Malwing where she was going to be living. This was all very exciting to her.
"Can't wait Balm. Let's go get Malwing out of the nursery and then let's get me home." Pandimala stated with a smile.
Balm nodded and said, "Ok, let me help you up. You haven't been up much since the birth."
Pandimala nodded and swung her legs around to the other side of the berth and allowed Balm to grab onto her arm before she made her way onto her pedes. She felt a little weak at first but she was glad when she was able to stand. Balm then let go of her arm and led her to the nursery. When they arrived, Pandimala smiled when she saw that Malwing was awake and looking around curiously.
Walking up to her and picking the little femme up, Pandimala smiled and said, "Hey there Malwing. Ready to go home?" Malwing simply stared up at her with a small smile and Pandimala took that as a yes.
"Now, Malwing isn't ready for flying yet or driving so you are going to have to walk her home. Luckily, you have an escort waiting for you." Balm stated quietly.
"Who? I just found out that I am leaving." Pandimala asked in confusion.
The two of them then started to walk to the lobby and Balm smirked before answering, "Malice wouldn't leave no matter what we all said to her. But, I did manage to convince her to wait in the lobby."
Pandimala let out a laugh and said, "Of course my carrier did that. Well, let's not keep her waiting."
So, the two femmes walked down the hallways for a few clicks before they finally arrived at the lobby. When they got there, Pandimala smiled when she saw Malice standing there smiling.
"Pandimala, I am guess that they are finally allowing you to go home. Well, let's get going. I want to play with my grand creation some more and I can't do that until we get you home." Malice stated.
Pandimala let off a chuckle before saying, "Alright Malice." She then turned to Balm and said, "See you later Balm."
Balm nodded and so Pandimala and Malice walked out of the med center and onto the streets of Iacon. As they walked, Malice told Pandimala about the different things that had been happening and how almost every business had closed up on the solar cycle that Malwing was born to celebrate because she was the first actual sparkling that they had seen in a while, since the jet twins were put into adult frames. Pandimala could even see as they walked that bots were stopping in their paths to get a glance of Malwing. Pandimala smiled and loved the attention that her little femme was getting.
"She certainly is popular." Malice commented.
Pandimala smiled and brought Malwing closer before saying, "Well, she is gorgeous. Who wouldn't love her, carrier?"
Malice laughed and the two femmes continued to walk until they got home. Once they were home, Pandimala put Malwing in the indoor baby swing before going to grab herself a cube of low grade.
Chaom sighed in relief as he finished talking with Pandimala over their bond. She had called to say that she had been released from the hospital and that Malice had walked her home and the two of them were in the living room playing with Malwing.
Chaom wished desperately that he had been there to walk Pandimala home but he had to attend a council meeting. Luckily, the one for the day was not very long and it was going to be over by mid solar cycle, which would be in a few clicks. The bot up talking right now was, of course, Dragstrip and he seemed to want to take even longer than normal this solar cycle.
When Dragstrip finally said that the council was dismissed for the day, Chaom stood up and walked out of the building. But, not two clicks later, he heard a voice yell, "Chaom, wait up."
Chaom turned to see Starscream running towards him. So, since he wasn't in too much of a rush today, he stopped and waited for Starscream to get closer before he asked, "What can I do for you Starscream?"
"Pandemonium just called and wondered if you and I could join him at the firing range in Kaon." Starscream stated.
Chaom thought about that for a click. He really wanted to get home and see Pandimala and Malwing but he knew that they would be fine with Malice there. Plus, he knew that he hadn't spent much time with Pandemonium and Starscream when it wasn't related to politics or when he wasn't with Pandimala. So, he nodded and said, "Sure, let's go and see him."
Starscream nodded and the two mechs transformed before flying out toward Kaon. As they flew, Chaom realized that Starscream seemed to be a lot happier than he had heard from the Autobots so he asked, "Are things going better between you and Megatron, Starscream?"
Starscream veered closer and said, "Yeah, it has been a lot better. He definitely trusts me more than he did while we were fighting the Autobots on Earth."
Chaom let out a chuckle and said, "Well, it might have to do with the fact that he also hasn't had to worry about having a bomb attached to his back."
Starscream chuckled back and said, "Well, I guess that would be one thing. He has started to trust me a lot more since I haven't been trying to offline him. Plus, I also think that it has to do with the war being over and all of us settling into a peace time atmosphere. Everything is a lot calmer now, for the most part, and we can all live happily."
Chaom nodded in understanding and went to say more when they arrived at the firing range. When they arrived, they saw that Pandemonium was blasting away at some targets. After he finished his magazine, he turned and realized that Chaom and Starscream were there and he said, "Hey mechs, glad you could join me. Want to pick up a blaster and get some practice in?"
Chaom shrugged and said, "Why not? Never know when I might need to use it." So, the three mechs then blasted away at the targets. As he shot, Chaom knew that he might have to use a blaster to protect his family in case the Virons decided to attack them. This time though, he would be ready.
Bumblebee raced around the track in a flurry. He was bored and he needed to release some energy. Zarron had been really busy lately looking around for Remcy and he hadn't had much time for scout training. Zarron had called him and said that he had to go out and check something but he would meet him today at a location of Bumblebee's choosing after he was done. Bumblebee had chosen the track and he had seen Zarron smirk when he had suggested it.
Zooming around another corner, Bumblebee then thought about Sari. Ever since she had become a bot, he had been feeling different around her. It was different in a good way, he thought, but it still confused him. He would get nervous around her sometimes and he would get upset if a mech who wasn't a part of their friend circle talked to her. He didn't know what he was feeling but he was determined to find out on his own.
"Getting faster Bumblebee."
Bumblebee stopped and transformed when he heard the voice and he turned around to see Zarron standing there. "How do you do that?" Bumblebee asked. No matter how much he trained under the motorcycle mech, he could never detect when Zarron would walk into a room. That was another one of his goals. He was going to know when Zarron walked into a room before he announced himself one of these solar cycle, no matter how long it would take.
"Thanks. So, are we going to do some training?" Bumblebee stated, not wanting an answer to his previous question, and then asked.
To his surprise, Zarron shook his helm and said, "No, we aren't going to be training today."
Bumblebee raised and optic ridge and asked, "Then what are we going to be doing?"
Zarron smirked and said, "Do you remember that promise I made you a while ago about what would happen when I had a free day?"
Bumblebee had to think about that. Zarron was usually very careful about his promises and Bumblebee knew that he had made very few to him. But, that was when he remembered what Zarron had said when he had visited his teacher at his house. "We are going to go and visit the scout training facility?" Bumblebee asked in shock.
He was excited when Zarron smiled and nodded his helm before saying, "Yep and I got permission from Alpha Trion to have full access to the facility so we can go anywhere our sparks desire. Of course, I know all the secrets so we can have some fun."
"So, are we going to be doing any training?" Bumblebee asked.
Zarron nodded his helm and said, "If you want to. Plus, I can get us access to their situation room so you can actually use your skills in a scouting situation."
Bumblebee felt ecstatic and said, "Thank you so much Zarron. What are we waiting for? Let's go!" He then walked next to Zarron and the two mechs made their way to the training facility. Bumblebee was really excited for this and he knew that this was going to be an awesome experience.
When the two mechs arrived at the building that Zarron had known as a second home for many of his pre-war end Cybertron days, Zarron couldn't help but feel excited for his visit. He knew that, while he was here, that he was bound to run into a few mechs that he would know and that would be a great time for him to introduce Bumblebee to some of the bots that trained him, trained with him, and that he had trained.
Once they walked through the doors, Zarron smiled as he already saw a familiar bot. "Hound! How've you been?"
The green jeep mech turned to him and a giant smile spread across his faceplate before he said, "As great as they can be since the war is over. How about you? I haven't seen you since the solar cycle before you left Cybertron."
Zarron let out a chuckle and said, "I'm doing ok. Just showing my newest student around."
Hound glanced at Bumblebee and smiled before holding out his servo and saying, "If Zarron here is training you, then you must have real potential."
Bumblebee shook his servo and said, "Thanks. How do you know Zarron?"
Hound let out a laugh as he said, "When Zarron came over here to train from boot camp, we were placed on the same team together from the first day until graduation. If it wasn't for Zarron, I don't think I would have gotten out."
"I don't think any of us would have graduated without Zarron's help." A voice seemed to say from the air. But, Zarron knew better. The mech who had said that had the same type of mod that Alpha Trion had given him before he left Cybertron with Pandimala.
Zarron smirked as Bumblebee jumped when a white and blue car mech suddenly seemed to appear out of thin air. "Mirage, how have you been holding up?" Zarron asked.
Mirage smirked and said, "I'm glad this fragging war is over and now we just get to relax and train the few bots who ask us. Like Hound was saying though, none of us would have graduated without your help. You were our study buddy. Well, that was when you weren't hanging out with 'Mala and the others and getting into fights."
Zarron smirked and said, "At least I rubbed off on you a little. I heard a few rumors that you made sure to give the council and Sentinel some heck about their policies when I left."
Mirage smirked and said, "Well, you weren't here and somebot had to do it." He then turned to Bumblebee and said, "So, Zarron's going to show you around? I think I will join you bots if you do not mind. This will give me a chance to see if Zarron's teaching style has changed. Plus, I heard Wheelie's around and he is going to flip when he finds out Zarron's here."
Zarron nodded and so he, Mirage, Hound, and Bumblebee started to walk down the halls and tell stories about the different places in the building. After a few clicks of walking, Zarron was about to lead them to the training room when a door opened and he felt something ram into his leg.
"Hey watch it bot. You need to learn when to stop." A familiar voice said.
"And how are you Wheelie?" Zarron greeted the orange car mech. Said mech was about the same height as Bumblebee, if maybe a tad bit smaller, but Zarron could see that the small mech that he had trained was excited to see him.
"I've been fine Zarron. How have the stellar cycles been going on?" Wheelie greeted and then asked.
Zarron smirked and said, "Just fine. This is Bumblebee and he is my new protégé."
Wheelie then looked at Bumblebee before smirking and saying, "Listen to what Zarron has to say. You never know when it can save the day."
Zarron could see that Wheelie was in a hurry so he said, "Well, it has been nice to see you. Have a good solar cycle."
Wheelie nodded and said, "Wheelie has to go and run. But seeing you has been fun." The young bot then scampered away.
"Does he always talk like that?" Bumblebee asked him as they started to walk toward the training area.
Zarron nodded and said, "Yeah, but you get used to it."
He then turned and realized that they had arrived at the door to the training room. Opening it, since the light above the door was green which meant that a bot had just finished a round of training, he stepped inside to see that a bot had just finished a training program. But, he was confused because, while he knew many of the bots at the facility, he had never seen this bot before. The bot was granite in coloring and had deep blue optics. He looked like he could transform into a sports car and he stood almost at the same height as Bumblebee.
When the mech walked up, he frowned when the mech glared at them and said, "What are you bots doing here? Trying to learn some better moves? I know that the bot Zarron gave you two a pathetic excuse for training help while you all were here learning, I doubt your two protégés could ever come up to my standards. My teacher is ten times better at training then that frag helm Zarron ever was." The pompous mech then pointed to both Zarron and Bumblebee before saying, "So, whose apprentice is whose?"
Zarron wanted this mech to talk a little more so he decided to act like an excitable recruit and took a step forward before saying, "I'm Zento and this is Bumblebee. Mirage is my teach and Hound is Bumblebee's. Who the frag are you and who is your teacher?"
Luckily, Mirage and Hound caught on to what he was doing and so Mirage said, "Zento, watch the language."
The mech in front of them smirked and said, "I'm Rook and my teacher happens to be Helex."
Zarron growled to himself in his helm when he heard the designation of Rook's teacher. He and Helex had a history. When he was here training, which was another story in itself, his team, which had consisted of him, Mirage, and Hound, found themselves usually going against Helex and his team. Those bots were always changing so Zarron couldn't remember all of their names but he always remembered Helex.
"What is the holdup in here Rook? I thought I told you to report to me immediately when you were done?" A very familiar voice to Zarron that was also unwelcome said from behind Rook, which meant that the bot, who was a car mech that was colored gray and deep blue and had medium blue optics, was coming in from the other entrance.
Rook turned around to him and jerked a thumb back at them before saying, "Mirage and Hound brought in their new protégé's and I was just finding out their names. The yellow one with black stripes is Bumblebee and the black one with blue flames is Zento."
Zarron then watched as Helex walked around Zento and studied them. He felt his optics narrow when he and Helex locked optics.
"Hmm, seems like we have an unexpected guest." Helex said to him, though Zarron could hear the hatred behind the statement.
"The same could be said about you Helex." Zarron stated, not trying to hide his anger.
Rook looked at him in shock and said in a rude voice, "You have no right to talk to a bot of higher standing then you like that you glitch helm."
Zarron then let out a humorless laugh and said, "You really should learn how to train your protégés on how to look up information about the bots that his teacher tells him about. It might make it look like he was learning something."
Rook looked like he was about to say something when Helex said, "Rook, unfortunately, he is not on a lower level then me. Have you not noticed the insignia on his chestplate? He is a Dragon Scouter. What more, his designation is not Zento."
Rook raised an optic ridge in confusion and looked at Zarron before asking, "If your designation is not Zento, then what is it?"
Zarron let off an evil smirk, one that he had picked up from Megatron, and said, "Well, if you must know, the designation is Zarron."
When Rook's optics widened in shock, Zarron felt like doing a victory dance. But, instead, he simply stood there and kept optic contact with Helex. He knew the signs of weakness and he would not risk giving Helex that advantage.
After a few clicks, Zarron felt like this would go on forever when the door opened behind him and he heard a very familiar femme voice say, "There you are Zar. I have been looking all over this building for you. Luckily, I ran into Wheelie and he told me that you headed this way."
Zarron turned around and smiled when he saw Beam standing there. Glancing at Hound and Mirage, he could see that they were curious about who she was.
Turning back to Helex, Zarron was surprised to watch the mech walk out of the room.
"And who are you pretty femme?" Mirage stated.
Zarron frowned and narrowed his optics at his friend but, before he could say anything, Beam smiled and said, "You must be Mirage. I'm Beam and I just so happen to be this mech's bondmate." She then came over and hugged his shoulders.
Mirage snapped his digits and sighed before smiling and saying, "Frag it Zarron. How did you get such a fine femme?"
Zarron laughed and said, "It is a long story."
Hound then stepped forward and said, "Well, we aren't going anywhere anytime soon."
Zarron sighed and said, "Fine, I guess we can have a story time. That's one of the main things about being a scout; listening to others' stories."
The five of them then sat down before Zarron launched into the tale of how he met Beam.
Authoress: MUHAHAHA! More enemies! *evil grin*
Zarron: So, ignoring the fact that you brought in Helex, what were you and the femmes talking about earlier?
Authoress: Nothing! *runs*
Chaom: Now we know that they are hiding something.
Stormfire: I know, and that is the scary thing.
AN: Well, here is another awesome chapter. I plan on doing some back-stories after this series is finished about the original five (Pandimala, Balm, Zarron, Remcy, and Tana) and their experiences during that thirty stellar cycle period between that first day of boot camp and when Pandimala got kicked off of Cybertron. So, that is when you will know more about Helex. Well, this was fun. Can't wait for next chapter. It is going to be... interesting. Until then though, please read and review. But no flames.
