The second Chromia stepped out from underground she could hear why Barricade was anxious to recruit her back. Shouts and chants sounded from outside, she knew the sounds of anger, of disobedience.
"Protestors?" Chromia asked.
"Riffraff" Blades retorted. He smirked. "Barricade's ordered us into riot gear, live ammo."
Live ammo! Chromia's mouth hung open, Iacon police had never fired on civilians before, Officers weren't even supposed to carry firearms unless rigorously vetted and trained. Those with guns in their anatomy that failed the tests were either disarmed or rejected to join the police.
"How long was I out?" She asked Windblade.
"A couple of cycles" Windblade muttered back.
"Less then a day, and we're already throwing out guns like they're toys" Chromia seethed in indignant fury. Windblade gave Chromia a very un-Windblade look.
"Less than a day of being a citizen and now you're a cop again. And I followed you. You made your choice, and if you want to stay in the police, you better follow the new rules" She bared her lip back. "I won't be following these new rules. First chance I get, I'm bolting. I don't care what I said, whether you come with me or not isn't a concern."
Windblade's words hit Chromia like a punch. In that moment she couldn't look up to see her optics, burning from shame and self-pity. Telling herself, there was nothing she could have done, that Windblade had made her choice too. But deep down, her shame burnt through her excuses and the seeds of self-hatred beginning to settle on her mind.
Walking stiffly, she followed Blades to the armoury, where a line of bots had formed. Most acknowledged Chromia. Some looked delighted to finally have an opportunity to use deadly weapons. Others looked rough, drawn out. Terrified at the thought of carrying guns and even more terrified about shooting them.
"Chromedome?" Chromia asked Groove as she passed.
"Never came back" He replied, not looking in her eyes. "I've heard some bots afraid of the new regime had holed up in the Primal Temple. The Temple Keepers are protecting them"
Tailgate. Chromia sighed with relief as she joined the queue. The Temple was holy ground. Any could claim sanctuary for 40 days with the Temple Keepers protecting them. Chromia assumed that once the time was up the Temple would be stormed. Chroma began to understand why Tailgate had chosen the church. Even ignoring the practical reasons for it, it made sense from a political point. Sentinel would want the Churches on his side, and sending in soldiers to collect political exiles by force would sour relations. Any dictator would want the infallible word of the Primal Priests on their side. Chromia would remember Tailgate's hidden cunning.
An escape, perhaps?
Chromia pushed the thought down deep into the back of her mind. As Windblade said, she had made her choice. She felt the weight of it as clearly as the weight of the path blaster in her hands. It dragged her down, large and cumbersome. It felt unnatural in her hands, deadly weaponry made her feel corrupted, Her job was to bring people in alive, never to kill. Barricade was the only one who had ever led her close to murder, and now she took his orders. As though he was Ultra Magnus.
Her hands tightened around the gun. It would be so easy, to point the gun and pull the trigger, to end Barricade. She had come so close before, what was to stop her again? Yes! She would shot him through the head, a single clean shot. Then she would use the desk of his office to wrench the miserable head from his shoulders, carry it outside to the protestors, and-
"Chromia, Stop daydreaming" Barricade ordered. Chromia was forced out of her fantasy of control and brought back to reality, she hadn't even noticed Barricade had left the cells she was so deep in her dream... Barricade suppressed a smirk from the enjoyment he felt at ordering Chromia; an officer who surpassed him. In the face of authority, Chromia's will broke like rusted metal.
"Come outside". He told her. "Time to face the music."
Chromia followed him, remembering how on that same day she and Ariel had strode outside on the way to help the citizens of Iacon, to go protect a friend. Now she walked with gun in hand, dreading its use.
"These guns are just for show, aren't they?" Chromia asked pathetically.
"Doubt it. I've been having the fire departments douse the protestors, they're pretty riled up."
A dark theory Chromia had given little thought to had been confirmed. Barricade was having the police purposely agitate the population.
"Why?" Chromia gasped. "What purpose is there in wanting to do this? Sentinel can't want-"
"He does want this. Orders have to be followed" Barricade replied.
"No!" Chromia stepped in front of Barricade, forcing him to stop just before the doors. "You never cared about orders before, I'm not buying this new "orders are orders" Barricade, you never cared about them before. So tell me, what the hell is going on?"
Barricade stared down at Chromia, his eyes boring into him, to make her smaller than she already was. She wouldn't kill her superiors, but the spark of rebellion was hard to kill, and her old attitude began to resurface. Barricade saw this. He jerked a thumb to the empty secretary desk and led Chromia to the small office behind.
"You're a tough one" he started slowly. Chromia glared through him.
"Honestly you were the only one I ever respected here. You have courage, did any others leave in the name?"
"Ariel"
"Only after you did! No, you have integrity, pride. And I see more, Chromia. Pragmatism, cunning, a certain" His knee buckled slightly. "Savagery. The will to take matters into your own hands."
"Flattering" Chromia replied deadpan. "But if you don't get to the point quick you can say goodbye to your good knee."
"Just the sort of attitude I need in a lieutenant" Chromia was too surprised to hide it. Her optics went wide. Barricade snickered.
"Or a Decepticon" he continued. Panels in his chest shifted, flipped as though he was about to transform. It was a very common ability, he had been born with the ability to semi-transform, just as Chromia had been born with her thrusters and grapple. Deep in his chest, on a panel just outside his spark casing, was a small, purple badge. Chromia looked at in shock.
"The Decepticons, those two-bit bandits?" It was a joke. Terrorists, exiles having infiltrated the Iacon police? Chromia could almost laugh.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that" Barricade muttered. "The Decepticons, followers of almighty Megatron. Anti-functionist, just like you."
"Terrorists, criminals."
"And what have you done for emancipation?" Barricade shot back. "Drank with writers with their heads in the cloud while heroes like Megatron brought the fight to them?"
"Fine, whatever. You're a Decepticon, great. But if you're a Decepticon, why do you want them-" the truth hit Chromia fast. "You want them angry" Chromia realised. "You want to make the Decepticons more sympathetic, and you'll kill innocents to do it!"
It made perfect sense to Chromia. Outside were hundreds, thousands of souls wanting to fight back, wanting their Solus back, their Ultra Magnus. The state took them, the Decepticons can bring them back. The Decepticons would be heroes and Megatron, their leader. Outside was a recruitment drive, and the Rescue Services were the recruiters. It was the Decepticons, from the beginning.
Then she hears Barricade laugh, a genuine laugh of mirth. He bent down, still guffawing at Chromia.
"How naive are you? You think the Decepticons orchestrated any of this?" Barricade tried to get his laughter under control, lest he let loose the secret. "My job is to leak info from the police and security services, you think Megatron told me to do this? No. These are orders from the top, the Senate's got a new way to do things. Law and order, through force, if necessary" he tapped the gun in Chromia's hands. "Though, if this does move public support towards the Decepticons, I ain't gonna moan."
"So, what you're saying is-"
"What I'm saying is that if you keep your head down, do as you're told and support the cause, I can get you one of these. This is protection when Megatron comes to power you'll want one over that badge you're wearing now. When the shout goes out, fire along with the rest of the cowards, and know that for every Cybertronian you shoot down, a Decepticon rises up" He sneered. "Or, if you can't do that, then follow your orders. You're a soldier now."
Barricade left Chromia in the office, stunned and confused. Only when he was ready to open the doors did he get Chromia to snap out of it.
"Keep your gun hot, rebel," He told her. "What you do here you either do for the Decepticons or for the Government."
Chromia followed him out into the open air, and the sound hit her. Music playing loud; the beats of the downtrodden, before her was a massive police line of over 10-metre bots. The sound coming from the other side mixed with the music and was directed at the vast bots that symbolised everything they were protesting against.
"Solus is Innocent!"
"Protection for Magnus!"
"Make Sentinel Terminal!"
Barricades funnelled the protestors against the Police Line with hundred-foot walls where officers were positioned. Chromia watched as a powerful jet of water burrowed into the protestors and provoked further shouts and screams, the Fire Departments were being used as bludgeons against the protestors. Despite this, the protest was peaceful.
Hot Spot Chromia thought as she made her way to the wall. Before she could ask any of the Fire services about him she was grabbed from behind.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Get off, Blades! I'll kill you for this!"
Chromia was thrown off to the side, but, using her thrusters, she pirouetted herself back onto her feet, she took her gun and on a whim she primed it. But Blades held something that stopped her in her tracks.
"Prowl?" Chromia dropped her aim, Prowl was held in front of Blades as a shield, Blades laughed at the look on Chromia's face.
"Yep, Barricade ordered him up" Blades put his face close to Prowl with both hands in his shoulders in a mocking comradery. "Gives a legitimate air to the proceedings. With the previous Captain here, should make Barricade's tenure look more official. One of my ideas, I'm proud to say"
Prowl looked even worse then he had in the cells. In Blade's hands, he looked dead to the world, a puppet to be played to Barricade's tune. Chromia found it hard to respect him, but sympathy was very easy for him then. Blades tutted at her.
"You have a gun, officer. Get into line."
Dread crept back into Chromia as she remembered what she was sent out to do. The badge compelled her, the lines of authority made it tangible. She would follow orders, as her duty commanded. She bit back her retorts, forced down her anger, and joined her comrades in the firing line. Many were ashen-faced, some looked ready to scream. A few looked eager, Chromia remembered them as the career bots.
"Chromia," said a voice to her left. She turned to see Grove. "We're just a precaution, right?" He asked, his face tight in anguish in a disbelieving smile. "We won't shoot" He leant on his gun. "We can't be… no, no, not us."
Words stuck in Chromia's throat, there was no reply to him. She knew what would happen next, and she knew the slaughter would save her. Keep hold of the badge, keep hold of the old life, keep hold of Chromia.
"Shield Wall, flank protection!" Came the call. The wall dispersed neatly, flanking the firing line, creating a funnel. Debris and names pelted the line now that the thin line of protection had been removed. Barricade walked in front of the firing line.
"Cybertronians!" He shouted as loud as he could, his voice being drowned out in the multitude of shouts from the crowd, only for the crowd to quiet to a low buzz, as it strained to hear what the important looking bot had to say. "You have reached the limit of my patience! This illegal gathering's violence has increased to the point that force is the only solution!" The buzz of the crowd began to rise, Chromia saw from the corner of her eye a completely broken Prowl, hugging his knees on the floor in a state of hysteria, rocking gently back and forth. Chromia saw what he saw, the complete breakdown of all he felt dear, everything that mattered in the Police wiped away by those at the top. Who were to protect the civilians from the government?
"I therefore give you a final ultimatum! Disperse quietly, go back to your homes! Or suffer the consequences of your unlawfulness!" The crowd was beginning to pick up the signs, the anger of the protest, slowly giving way to the panic of the stampede. Already the front of the crowd was piling back on its self, crumping like weak metal. Barricade's demand could never be pulled through, the protests were massive. Barricade sighed theatrically.
"Front row, take a knee!" Chromia felt her knee buckle, Groove was making choking noises into his gun. The crowd recoiled.
"Take aim."
The world bent, piled in on itself. For Chromia it felt like nothing else mattered, the world had collapsed on itself, the badge compelled her.
"Prime. Now, f- Chromia, what the hell are you doing!"
Chromia barely knew herself, the legs carrying her forward didn't belong to her, carrying her to the crowd, her gun limp in her hands. The badge compelled her.
"Chromia, back in line now!"
His words were wind, the shouts of the crowd absolute. She knew what to do, she was small, but she could take a hit. She would protect them, the badge compelled her, but the badge compelling her had been made by her, it was larger than the small scrap piece on her chest. The gun fell from her hands. She picked up speed. She could see the lights of their optics.
"Damn you! Damn you! Fire! Fire for Primus sake!"
"But sir, she'll be hit!"
"She made her choice, she betrayed us! Fire, now!"
The first shot whizzed wide over her head, narrowly passed over the head of the protestors. The next blast smashed into her shoulder, her arm was useless. Chromia turned and spread her good arm as wide as she could. The next shot hit her hip, she crumpled. Still, she spread her good arm. The next shot hit her head, the world grew dark. Another shot in the chest, Just above her spark. She fell into the screaming crowd, her chest shot through. Her spark fading. Strong hands grasped her, picked her up gently. The last she heard before the darkness dragged her below was her name being cried out by Windblade.
