A/N: Hey everyone! I've finished my second day of school (eww school XP haha). This is a pretty long chapter, and hopefully it'll keep you guys happy till the weekend, or who knows I may even get another one out before then (you know how slow first weeks are, I might just be able to pull it off ^_-). Please Enjoy and Review!
To SEZwho94: Yes the irony indeed :D Maybe Nightbeat isn't so bad off X) And yes, Orion Pax it is! :D I've been reading Transformers Exodus and just had to fit him in somehow :D I've got more cameos planned out than I did in the beginning. Thank you for your reviews! ^_^
To MasterChiefAnderson: It's hard not to love Mirage (and hard not to love writing for him XD) Thank you for the stars, I've put them up on my ceiling and they glow at night, making me quite happy :D Thank you for your reviews!
To Vivienne Grainger: Your reviews continue to make me feel really good about my writing ^_^ I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story! Thank you for your continued reviews!
The Hall of Records is Cybertron's largest compilation of knowledge, where data is constantly streaming in and being categorized and stored properly by those of the Clerks Guild, a middle-caste collection of bots who upon their creation were chosen to fill this occupation; this is how all of Cybertron's current caste-system works. Orion Pax enjoys his work, enjoys knowledge in general. He does feel, however, that there's something more he could do; it is a tug that has been slowly growing into a passionate yearning in his spark. He keeps these thoughts to himself, however, knowing that such is considered heresy. There are, however, rare cases in which members from different castes became sparkmates, thus granting their sparkling –should they have one –the choice between two occupations. Orion Pax is not one of these exceptions, thus he is a mere data clerk, and suspects it will stay that way until he grows too old to properly function. The thought of becoming old and weak is not one that Pax enjoys.
"Minerva, it's been too long since we've last visited… I'm… very sorry for what has happened to your child, Nightbeat. We'll do all we can for you. I'm glad you've come to us for help. If there are any clues to be found in the Records, then found they shall be. We will accept no less." Orion's voice is soft as he holds Minerva's shoulders, assuring her that he means what he says.
"Thank you, Orion, and you, Ariel. I know how much you're risking, letting me into the Records, and I'm in your debt." Minerva is somber, her lost cycles of recharge clearly written across her features.
"There's no debt, Minerva, we're your friends. It's what we do." Ariel squeezes Minerva's hand from her place at Orion's side. She then turns to her love, "Alright. Let's see what we can find."
The trio of young bots moves silently beyond the great doors of the tall, dome-shaped building. At this late joor, there is only a skeleton staff on call, all of which are at the clerking desks, studying and storing the constant stream of incoming data.
Orion leads the femmes past the open area of the reception lobby and down a hall until they reach one of the data storage rooms. Avoiding the watchful lens of the security camera upon entering, they sneak down one of the numerous rows of tall data storage units. The entire room –floor, walls, and ceiling –emits a white glow as the clear surfaces of it expose the high-voltage cables within the innards of the building. A low hum resonates in the room from the immense energy that is kept at a constant degree. The huge data-storage units reach from the floor to the ceiling, their shiny, black surfaces speckled with flashing blue lights.
Orion reaches the user station of the data unit and hooks a cable from his servo digit into one of the jacks. A holographic vid screen is projected before them on the face of the black storage unit, an array of waves and codes flashing across it.
"I'll see what I can find on any recent Circuits activity." Orion Pax says with a distant look in his optics as trillions of data codes flash before them at speeds that would cause an organic's soft brains to erupt.
Minerva and Ariel wait on the edges of their pedes until they see Orion's brow ridge furrow.
"What is it?" Ariel asks.
"That's… strange. I can't find… anything. Nothing at all. Not even the public news reports that have already been broadcasted. It's like it's all been erased." Orion looks to the two femmes, their looks of confusion matching his own. "Perhaps we'll try something else. What did you say the mech's name was?"
"Brawl." Minerva is too tired to consider upchucking her tanks' contents at the ugly name. Who would ever name their kid 'Brawl'?
Once more, Orion takes on a faraway look in his optics as he browses through the immense data stream. Also once more, Orion's brow crinkles in absolute perplexity. The two femmes lean closer to him, as if they could somehow see the data that's passing through his processor through his optics.
"I've found numerous communication waves, all of which I assume either mention the name 'Brawl' or are from the mech himself… But they all appear to be encrypted and scrambled beyond restoration." The two femmes look at one another, hoping that Orion has a solution.
The Hall of Records is the greatest source of knowledge because it gathers anything that passes over what is called 'the Grid'. The Grid is like a web that covers Cybertron in its entirety; it cannot be seen, but it sees all. All vid feeds, broadcast waves, and even personal com link communications are captured in the entanglement of the Grid and are stored properly in the Hall. This Grid has in turn lead to the most in-depth recording of a planet's history ever to be created; that is, if one doesn't count the history of the Thirteen Primes, thought to be a myth, lost in the pages of time –lost in the pages of the Covenant of Primus.
For there to be two instances of either data completely missing or altered is unheard of, and instills a strong sense of concern in Orion Pax. How could this happen? Has corruption tainted the purest source of knowledge Cybertron has to offer? Orion is greatly disturbed by this revelation.
"Wait, I know something else that might work," Minerva suddenly speaks up with a new eagerness in her voice, "Can you find if there are any vid feeds from Sector D-12 near the shut-down factory?"
Orion quickly does as requested, and the holographic vid-screen comes to life with a feed of the outside of the factory; the chronometer set to the recharge cycle Nightbeat went missing. Orion fast forwards through the feed, the three of them watching as a large group of Circuits fill into the dead factory.
"Wait! Rewind it, right there—" Minerva holds her servo over her mouth as she sees a still shot of her child –Nightbeat. He's in the far upper-left corner of the screen, climbing into what looks like a large drain pipe outside the building that leads into the factory. After he disappears into it, the screen is empty of any activity.
Orion waits for a moment before he continues fast forwarding, and then plays it at normal speed as something occurs onscreen. The Circuits appear to be leaving the factory in a great haste, running as though it is for their lives. A large ammunition shell is seen bursting out the front wall of the building, looking like nothing more than a fast, grey smudge across the screen. After a long moment of stillness once more, two figures are seen leaving the building, the shorter carrying a brown sack over his shoulder.
Minerva feels her energon run cold at the sight. She feels her spark and temples pound with painful pressure. Ariel and Orion both look at her, and know that they've found their starting clue.
"That's him. Brawl." Minerva points her digit to the taller figure, "I know it is. I can feel it."
Orion zooms in the screen feed until Brawl's faceplates consume the entire image. His bright yellow optic casts an eerie glow onto the features of the three young bots huddled around the screen.
"So… where do we go from here? We have a face and a name… but now what?" Ariel asks; her frustration apparent in her voice.
"Wait… look here." Orion zooms in further onto Brawl's chest plate, on which a distinctive purple badge is adorned. "I know what that is, I've seen it a few times now. It's the symbol of the revolutionary, the Kaon Gladiator, Megatron."
Ariel scrunches her features in confusion, "Wait, a 'Gladiator'? I thought such tournaments are illegal… Did you say 'revolutionary'?"
Orion Pax's tone grows low and quiet, "He's the leader of a rising following who shares his ideals… They've been calling themselves Decepticons."
"Can I go outside?"
"Don't you mean 'may' you go outside?"
"… May I go outside?"
"Of course, darling, get some fresh air. But be careful on your leg, it has yet to heal completely." The femme pats me on my processor and pinches my cheekplate. I will myself not to bite the offending digits.
I walk out of the living quarters to the open-aired courtyard, looking around for any shimmers of movement in the air; this is about the same time the other cycle that I met Mirage. As much as I hate to put him at a possible risk, it seems that he's the only one who can help me out of this situation. Just for the pit of it, I walk to the far end of the courtyard and try opening the door into the large Community Tower, the centermost tower of what I've learned is called the High Tower Pavilions. As usual, the door refuses to budge for me.
I meander back into the center of the courtyard, sitting on the edge of the fountain. Laying back on its edges, I shut my optics and allow my other senses to fully attune themselves to the surroundings. Since the little 'spark-to-spark' with the Emirate on the last cycle, I've behaved to the best of my abilities; if I'm going to get out of this, I'll need both a functioning processor as well as their guards to be lowered. The femme, of course, doesn't suspect a thing. The mech, on the other servo, hasn't been paying me enough attention to really notice anything anyways.
This little stay hasn't been all bad. I've been polished up so bright that I can see my reflection on my own arms. I've been sleeping –quite comfortably –throughout the entire recharge cycles with no blaster shots or potential intruders waking me. I've been served three full meals a day –with snacks in between; my tanks have never been so full. I've also… been getting a lot of attention. From the femme. Lots of hugs and kisses –as much as they make me squirm and grimace. Lots of questions of how I'm feeling and how my cycle's been treating me so far.
She'll even come and tuck me in before I fall into recharge and just… talk to me. She tells me about when she was growing up; it turns out she has a sister back in Kaon. She mentions a third sister every now and then, but it sounds like she isn't around anymore. She tells me how happy she is that she has me. It feels wrong when she says that; for numerous reasons, of course, but mostly because it sounds like it's meant for someone else.
My sensors bring me out of my musings as I hear a light pattering of pedes off to my left in the direction of the Community Tower. I stay in my lying position, waiting for the steps to come closer.
"Hi." is all I say. I hear a brief scuffing –presumably tripping –sound and a hollow, metal 'thunk'. I can't hold back my smirk as I sit up to see the visible Mirage sitting on a sore aft-plate.
"You knew it was me, you've got well-adapted hearing sensors." Mirage smiles with reddening plates as he rubs the back of his processor in a fidgety manner.
"Or perhaps you're louder than you think." I lightly tease as I offer him my servo. I can see the conflict going through his circuitry as he contemplates the appendage for a short klik, then takes it and smiles in gratitude as I help him up.
"You're saying, then, that I would have to be loud for your sensors to pick up on me? What, have you got muck clogged in your audio sensors?" A challenging grin crosses Mirage's faceplate, one that I wouldn't have guessed one as shy as him could perform.
I quickly take up the challenge, a matching grin spreading on my features, "I thought I taught you a lesson the other cycle about being rude. Is it time for more etiquette training?" I crack my servo's digits for effect.
"Perhaps this time you'll be the one to learn something!"
I'm taken completely by surprise as Mirage tackles me down, mindful of my leg as the air is knocked out of my vents. This means war. An eruption of childish giggles and laughter comes from our vocalizers as we wrestle across the ground, dirtying up our polished frames. So, it would seem the rich prince found that he liked the little introduction to rough-housing from our first meeting; perhaps he isn't so snobby and above such play after all.
After a good long tussle, we find ourselves lying on the ground, basking in the warmth of the cycle's breezes and a newfound friendship. Mirage doesn't even seem to notice just how much dirt is covering his chassis. For me, this is how I usually look. I let myself linger in this childish obliviousness until I have to bring myself back to the dark reality of my situation.
"How do you get in here? As far as I can tell, that door to the Community Tower is locked shut."
"Oh, well, if you're a registered resident here, then all the doors will open automatically for you… but if you aren't, then they won't. Also, if you try following a resident through a door but aren't registered as an official guest, you'll set the alarms off. Security purposes, and all. I… get the feeling that your, ah, mech host wouldn't appreciate having security arrive?" I can tell that Mirage is smart enough to see that something very wrong is going on, and I have to appreciate the worry I sense in his vocalizer.
I consider what my presented options are. Sure, I could easily ask Mirage to open a door so I could set off the alarms… But there's no telling what the Emirate could do to me by the time security actually arrived. He could hide me, or even throw me off the tower if he was that desperate to hide my existence; the last option, however, I don't think would be likely. I've been slowly coming to understand the Emirate's motives. He's protecting his sparkmate.
The femme is convinced that I'm her child, and she seems to be pretty happy with that (false) fact. The Emirate is clearly trying to protect what's left of her burned out processor, and I assume I'm the answer. She must've lost a child or something and went bonkers afterwards. What the Emirate has been learning of me, however, is that I can be a difficult child if I want to be. What seems to make him angrier is that I'm smarter than he would prefer. This combination leads to the threats he's had to make against me in order to keep me in check; to assure his sparkmate's continued happiness.
"Yeah, he wouldn't be too fond of an event like that… Mirage, I need your help." I quickly check our surroundings to make sure we don't have any audio sensors listening in on us, "Now listen, you have to be very careful about who you tell this to, but I'm being held here against my will; I'm a captive. The Emirate has threatened to hurt me should I tell anyone or try to escape. But listen, I need you to go to the head of the security here, or even find some Enforcers, and tell them. But they can't let their presence be known until the last klik, because I don't know what the Emirate might do if he knows they're coming to get me. Can you do this?"
Mirage's optics reflect his complete shock for what I've just told him, and I have to shake him by the shoulders to get him to respond, "Yes, yes I can do that… I'll tell… I'll tell Ironhide! He's the head of security here, he'll take me seriously. Should I… should I go now?"
A part of me is a bit sad to so quickly send off my new friend; should things go according to plan, I may be returning to Sector Capri right away, never to see him again. "Yeah, do it as quickly as you can. And…" I'm not good with goodbyes. Living in my sector and seeing the same bots every day with no exceptions, it hasn't been something I've needed to do. "Be careful, Mirage."
Mirage nods and gives one last smile before on-lining his cloaking device and dashing off, leaving me alone in the courtyard once more. I bring myself heavily to my pedes, deciding that I'll stay in the courtyard until the security arrives.
The femme then comes out, a bit of a hurriedness in her tone, "Oh, sweetie, why don't you come in now? You're father is having company over very shortly and… and I would just rather that they not… see you." She comes over to me and scoops me up and heads for the living quarters, "Goodness, what have you been up to? You're an absolute mess!" She's unable to control her mirthful giggles as she wipes just a smudge of dirt off my olfactory sensor, "Well, why don't you go clean up, then I would like it if you went straight to your room. Your father's asked that you not disturb his meeting."
Upon entering the spacious living room of the quarters, she sets me down and goes on her own way towards another end of the building. I go in the direction of the wash room, but avert my path once I see that she's out of optic-view. This meeting may be something of interest.
Starscream lands in the courtyard, transforming in midair before landing on his pedes with the grace that comes with being a seeker. Skywarp teleports out of thin air and follows suit, landing beside his commander with a graceless thud that comes with being Skywarp. Starscream glares momentarily at his reckless underling before moving with a nonchalant swagger towards the awaiting Emirate of Kaon, earning a roll-of-the-optics from Skywarp.
"Emirate Xeon, how cordial it is of you to greet us upon our arrival. I trust you're enjoying your stay in the great city of Iacon?" Starscream's charm is enough to veil the serpentine menace behind his smile.
Emirate Xeon, however, is not fooled for an instant as he plays the same game, "Yes, quite so, Starscream. And I see you've brought your comrade, Skywarp. Is Thundercracker occupied elsewhere? I thought Seekers preferred to fly in trines." It is common knowledge amongst those who are in Megatron's elite circle that Starscream has difficulty controlling his blue subordinate. There's something of a rebellious streak through the quiet, moody flyer.
Starscream's smile turns poisonous as he internally ponders where Thundercracker, indeed, is preoccupied, "Yes, he is. I brought Skywarp along merely to act as a lookout for our meeting. Why don't we get on with our business, then? I wouldn't want to keep you away from your sparkmate, Silhouette, for too long." Seeing that his strike has landed on its mark and makes the Emirate's optic twitch, Starscream brushes past him into the cooled setting of the living quarters. Skywarp scoffs to himself over the hissing contest and takes to the air, teleporting out of sight.
The Emirate follows Starscream through the quarters until they reach a large room that acts as a library, with half the room made of pure glass that curves to the shape of the tower while the other half has filled shelves built into the walls. The Emirate takes note of how many datapads seem to be missing from the bottom shelves; most likely the only ones that the sparkling can reach. Stopping, Starscream turns his back to the window, ready to begin.
"Megatron has requested that I give you an overview of where your most gracious contributions are going, as well as our progress in those matters. The new subsurface stadium's construction is at its halfway mark, and already we're receiving high bids for entrance to the first Gladiatorial Tournament that will be held upon its completion. With a stadium in Iacon, we will be able to recruit and build our forces right in the heart of the High Council's turf; earning us a great advantage against their meager Elite Guard once we make our move. Thanks to your connections with High Council member Ratbat, our actions have gone completely under the radar thus far; he's gone so far as to delete anything and everything that may be used to track us from the Hall of Records." Starscream slowly paces from one end of the window to the other, never allowing his optics to leave the Emirate.
As Starscream speaks, Emirate Xeon opens a hidden compartment in the bookshelf, earning a suspicious stare from the Seeker until he pulls out a bottle of fine high-grade. Pouring it into two cubes, he hands one to the Air Commander.
Starscream nods his gratitude to the Emirate as he continues, "The factory down in Sector D-12 is also coming along quite well, we expect it to be completed and filled with workers within the next two solar cycles." He waits until his host takes a drink to sip at his own.
"So quickly? I thought Megatron only just began its reconstruction three cycles ago." Emirate Xeon smirks both in a display of how impressed he is as well as in amusement at how openly Starscream watched to make sure he took a drink first. It is almost difficult to decide whether or not to trust someone who is so honestly and openly distrusting. Hiding distrust is one thing, but with Starscream… it was hard to tell what was going through that mech's processor at times.
"Oh yes, our Constructicons are the finest of their breed; they were the top engineers of Crystal City, did you know that, Emirate?" Taking another sip of his drink, Starscream pours on the charm as he brags about his somewhat snobby comrades.
Following the little dance of polite chat and compliments that he and Starscream often engaged in, the Emirate replies, "I had no idea. It is clear that Megatron's message reaches quite an array across the castes."
"Well of course, Emirate. Your support itself proves that." Starscream knows that the Emirate couldn't care less for Megatron's ideals, that he is only in it to satiate his own greed. The Air Commander has to admit, Megatron indeed has clever ways of doing just that. One wouldn't think that a mere Gladiator could find ways of obtaining enough credits to buy out an entire city of politicians and then some.
"It ain't polite to eavesdrop, kid." Skywarp says as he looms over a small, blue and yellow sparkling who has his audio receptor pressed against the door. The little one makes a run for it, but the Seeker thug is faster and scoops him up, pushing open the door to the library and entering.
Starscream's initial reaction is to glare at Skywarp's sudden intrusion, but his features slowly meld into a sugary-sweet smile as his optics fall upon the sparkling. He holds the pearly smile as he asks in what Skywarp knows is a tone that indicates his commander's slipping patience, "Well well, who do you have there, Skywarp? I don't think I've ever seen this little one."
Skywarp is quick to explain himself, "I found him listening in on yous two. He yours, Emirate?" Skywarp has to adjust his hold as the sparkling begins struggling and kicking. The kid even tries biting the Seeker's servos, but Skywarp moves them out of harm's way.
Starscream –keeping his glistening smile plastered on his faceplates –turns his processor towards Emirate Xeon, only to catch him glaring death arrows at the little one. "I wasn't aware you had… another sparkling, Emirate Xeon. How very interesting. If he is yours, that is." Approaching Skywarp, Starscream takes the child into his own arms, giving the little one a few pats on the back as he walks back over to his previous position. The sparkling ceases his struggles, a clear look of discomfort and fear freezing his features.
The Emirate turns to fix his glare on Starscream, stepping close to the Seeker, "Yes. He is."
Not feeling threatened in the slightest by the Emirate's seething glare (he's seen worse from Megatron), Starscream averts his attention to the sparkling, leaning back slightly until he is optic-level with him, "And what is your name, little one?" When the sparkling doesn't answer, Starscream chuckles lightly, "Oh, I see you're a shy one. And by the looks of all the dirt on your chassis, a bit of a wild child. I was the same way at your age. Skywarp, was there a reason for you leaving your post?" Starscream's demeanor seems almost sincerely content when he gives his attention to the child, and luckily for Skywarp it lingers as he is addressed by his commander.
Thinking for a moment, Skywarp remembers his reasoning, "Ah, oh yeah, yes, there's a bot approaching the front door. Looks like a medic." Skywarp prepares himself for a reprimanding from his superior for his daftness for not mentioning it a tad earlier.
Amazingly, Starscream's moderate mood seems to overlap his anger as he looks to the sparkling's braced leg, "I assume this concerns your sparkling's new leg? Really, Emirate, you must learn to take better care of your children. They do break so very easily." The child's frame stiffens as Starscream gently plants a kiss on his forehead and hands him to the Emirate.
Taking the sparkling into his protective arms, Emirate Xeon takes swift strides towards the door, glancing back over his shoulder, "Please excuse this interruption and wait here. This will be handled quickly."
"Oh, of course, Emirate." Starscream says with all his charm. Skywarp can't help but chuckle at just how wicked his commander can be.
Walking down the hallway and entering the living room to reach the front door, the Emirate briefly tightens his hold on Nightbeat in anger as he demands, "What in the pit do you think you're doing? I thought I told you to cease this kind of behavior. You've had your final warning." He tightens his hold greater still as the child tries pushing away from him.
Emirate Xeon opens the front door just as Ratchet is about to ring the com bell, "Medical Chief Ratchet, how nice of you to come."
"Oh, hello. I'd almost think you were expecting me with a welcome like that. I do apologize for coming unannounced, but I forgot to mention that it is vital that I come check up on your little one's progress every few cycles." What Ratchet fails to mention also to the Emirate is that he figured that by coming unexpectedly may enable him to catch the Kaonian couple off guard… he just wasn't sure what he was trying to catch them at.
"Of course, I understand. I appreciate your coming here to us, our business here in Iacon does not allow us the time required to bring our child to your hospital." Ratchet tries to hide his confusion as the Emirate continues referring to the sparkling as 'our child'; he had been provided with the name 'Wilder' by the femme, but he has yet to hear either of the creators use it.
"Of course, anything for a patient. Shall we?" Ratchet looks to the sparkling, who refuses to bring his bright orange visor up to meet his optics. Something wrong is definitely going on here.
"Yes, let's." The Emirate leads the medic inside.
A/N: Silhouette is the originally intended name meant for the cannon character Shadow Striker, but Hasbro was unable to do it due to copyright issues. I like the name Silhouette better and it's also not as corny sounding, so it will be the one I'm gonna be using ^_^ I've made it a point to have pure cannon characters in this story, even Wilder is a real character XD (but of course all mentioned Headmaster characters are supposed to be living Cybertronians in this story, not humans controlling huge robots _).