Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.
Pandimala: Holy slag. I have no words.
Starscream: I believe you are looking for words of amazement that the Authoress is updating so quickly.
Authoress: *smug* I think you owe me an apology.
Pandimala: *scoffs* Keep dreaming Authoress.
Chapter 33: Learning How to Trust
Paul's 1st P.O.V.
If any being had asked me, before this day, if I had a choice between spending time with my creations or going to a sales meeting with the United States government which would I choose, they would say that I would spend time with my creations. Servos down that would have been the answer. However, with all of the tensions flying around the base right now, there had been no hesitation in the choice I had made. Instead of staying there, I had readily gone to a sales meeting at one of the bases in the area.
Firstly, there was the tension between the newly-arrived Balm and Pitch. The two bots could barely stand to be in a room with each other, much less hold a civil conversation together. Then, she along with Zarron and Wheeljack seemed like they had banded together against Pitch, Sentinel, and Flamewar. Everybot else, it seemed, seemed to be awkwardly trying to make the situation work for the best while trying to keep a unified front on the surface. Poor Optimus seemed to be trying his hardest to hold the group together.
Luckily for him, the Prime had support from a few of the other bots when situations between the two trios came up. Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz, and Blaster seemed to always be stepping in to make sure that the two groups did not come to major blows.
While I was grateful for their intervention, I didn't hesitate to take the first trip out of the base that I could. Of course, Miko was going to be angry at me for leaving her there to deal with everything while I was gone. Hopefully, she could help keep everything afloat until I was able to get back to the base.
I was even more glad that I had listened to Lizzie in her last contact with me when she had to act like she was disavowing me when she said to have Miko assist me in accomplishing my goals. The usefulness fo that suggestion alone was part of the reason that I knew that she did not stop contact with me out of loyalty to the Decepticons. This other humanoid on the ship might have to be close to her at times.
...Of course, that was if she was still even alive.
Waving to the patrol officer at the gate, I waited for the gate to open in front of me before I left the military base. Once I was on the road again, I returned to that harrowing thought. It was a dark thought, that I knew. However, given the actions of the Decepticons at the mine, according to Cliffjumper, showed evidence that Lizzie was indeed dead. I shouldn't have waited so long to push for a rescue attempt. While there was a small chance that she was still alive, I couldn't allow myself that hope. Not after all of the overwhelming evidence. The Decepticons never hesitated in boasting about an advantage that they had over the Autobots. Lizzie was a large advantage that they had in their possession. They would have known, by now, that I was her boss and I was worried for her along with my involvement with the Autobots. It would be foolish for them to not hang that information in front of the Autobots whenever they could...unless she was dead. What I wouldn't,
"What the frag?" I gasped as my car was suddenly hit from behind and I lurched forward. Once I got control of my car, I looked back in my rearview to see… "Slag," I didn't realize that we were already on Nemesis Prime. For, behind me, a very familiar-looking big-rig was moving in to hit me again. I braced myself as the knockoff moved closer to hit me. Once it did, I let out a groan before putting on more speed. Just because I was prepared for the hits didn't mean that they weren't going to leave me with some form of whiplash.
At this point, I realized that I should get a call into the base, to make sure that everything stayed as on track as I could. So, I hit the speed-dial for the base and waited for somebot to pick up. It was Blaster who picked up. "Paul, done with that meeting,"
"Where's Prime?" I interrupted the mech. While I felt slightly guilty in doing so, I knew that with Nemesis Prime behind me trying to knock me off the road, I had to be quick.
"Prime isn't here at the moment fleshy," Pitch almost growled from the other side.
Great. I was on speaker. "Well, then I'll take that as confirmation that he is currently trying to flatten me into a pancake!" I retorted with a grunt as Nemesis hit the back of my car again. I slagging did not have time for this.
"Come on Paul, the big guy wouldn't do that." Miko chimed in with that one.
"Tell that to my burning tires!" I yelled into the phone. Unfortunately, at another hit from the imposter, my phone flew off the seat where it was sitting and slammed into the dashboard. From the lack of sound coming from it, I realized that it had been turned off...at the least from the hit.
When we came to the bridge, I had to brace myself even further as the knockoff slammed into the side of my car and pushed me against the wall of the bridge. It didn't take long for said car to start spinning out of control and it took all of my willpower not to hurl all over the seats. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the front of my car slammed into the wall, breaking it, and I felt disoriented as my car balanced on the edge. The sound of the ground bridge opening hit my ears as the fake Prime pushed my car over the edge.
Slag.
My very long life flashed before my eyes for what seemed like forever. However, in an instant after forever, I suddenly heard a transformation sequence and my car jolted as it was grabbed by somebot. The next few moments of my life were spent feeling the bot who grabbed me tumble on the floor of the canyon, and the back of my car crunching from the impacts. Once we had stopped moving, I glanced out of my window to see light green coloring. "Paul, are you alright?" Springer asked me.
"Yeah, just peachy," I groaned. The burst of air pressure releasing and the feeling of something slamming into my face changed that. "Shit!"
Damn airbag.
Because of that hit, the next group of minutes was a blur to me. I remembered the light of the ground bridge being activated and the sound of some of the bots talking. Once I was taken out of my car, I was set down on a couch where Fowler seemed to be doing a preliminary medical exam. Didn't realize he knew how to do that.
"You seem fine," Fowler spoke to me, causing me to focus. The man looked worried but I took his words to heart. "Doesn't look like you have a concussion. You just got disoriented by the airbag going off. Your orientation should be back to normal in a few minutes. If it isn't, we'll call June in to take a better look at you."
I slowly nodded toward him. "Thanks, Fowler."
As someone else sat next to me, my guess was Miko, Fowler stood up and addressed the bots. "We have a serious problem right now."
"You're all crazy!" Cliffjumper spoke up. "Optimus wouldn't just attack someone...especially not a human."
Blaster nodded at that. "Yeah, Cliff's right." My improving vision showed me that about half of the room looked disbelieving at their defense of Optimus, many of those disbelieving bots were glancing at me and Flamewar, who was the bot who must have been attacked by the false Prime after I was knocked off the bridge. "A quick check for Optimus' signal will show that he won't be anywhere near there." He then paused. "He is coming into base right now."
Everyone in the room turned to the entrance to the base as the sound of a big-rig came into our audio-hearing range. I couldn't stop the flinch that traveled through me at that sound. "Paul, was it Optimus who hit you?" Miko whispered to me as Optimus came into view.
"No. It was the fake one." Even though I was confident in my response, I couldn't help but shiver when Optimus' alt mode came into view. It was a heavy relief on my current mentality when Optimus transformed into his bi-pedal mode.
"Is something wrong?" Optimus asked. It was easy to read the hurt and confusion in the Prime's vocals.
"We just wanted to know where you have been," Flamewar asked with a glare toward the Prime. She should know better than to believe that the knockoff that knocked her out was the actual Optimus. I only said it because I had to, to maybe keep this episode running somewhat smoothly.
"We haven't been able to reach you Prime," Sentinel added to that with a hesitant look.
"I have been outside of our communications range," Optimus started to say as he went to reach into his subspace. I rolled my eyes when, immediately, half of the room pulled their blasters out and primed them at Optimus while Fowler stood protectively in front of me and the kids. "In a subterranean energon deposit." Optimus continued while holding up a calming servo and showing them the energon he had been able to obtain.
The others looked at each other tensely at that before Jack spoke up. "Come on it's our guy. Can't you tell?"
"Jack's right," I was surprised when Zarron spoke up at that and moved to stand next to Optimus. The Prime and Zarron hadn't exactly been the closest bots lately and for Zarron to be the first to defend the Prime while he was here was not what I was expecting. "This is our Optimus, not the thing that was seen earlier." Optimus glanced at Zarron with a confused look at that.
The room stayed tense for a few more clicks before Ironhide sighed and returned his weapons, causing all of the Autobots...some reluctantly, to follow his example. "Sorry Optimus…"
Ratchet then picked up from that apology. "Don't blame them Optimus," The medic then motioned toward where I was sitting. "Paul was attacked earlier tonight on an open highway by a vehicle that bore a striking resemblance to yourself."
Immediately, Prime looked at me. "Paul, where you injured?"
I waved the Prime's worry away. "Nothing that won't heal. I'm all good Optimus." I was going to say more when Fowler's phone started to ring.
"So, is that the call that is saying that Nemesis is tearing up the base in the bot?" Miko whispered to me.
Glancing and seeing that the others in the room seemed to be distracted in their conversations, I nodded. "Yeah. This means that everything is going to go downhill really quickly before we can get to the end of this. But, as long as you and I stay focused on what's ahead of us, then we should be fine." And as long as nothing else changed.
Zarron's 1st P.O.V.
"Optimus Prime did not attack our boys,"
I resisted the urge to shake my helm when I heard Agent Fowler speak those words into his phone. While I may be on a mission to see if loyalties to the Autobot cause, and the morals we upheld, I could say without a doubt that Optimus, no matter his state of mind, would never attack organics as the imposter did. Just hearing those words, and thinking of what happened earlier, really got my circuits in a bind.
As soon as we got word that Alden Airforce Base was attacked by the imposter, our Prime didn't hesitate in sending a group of us out there to assist the humans. I was working with Seaspray, Optimus, Pitch, and Ironhide to keep the false bot contained. However, the humans hadn't reacted well to our presence and we soon found ourselves in a two-way fight. On one side, we were trying to confine the monstrosity that was this fake Optimus and on the other, we were trying to defend our sensitive parts, like our optics and visors, from the shots fired by the humans.
Honestly, I couldn't blame them. They were so fragile compared to us physically, that the shock of something that looked like Optimus attacking would send them on the attack against us. Some of the others did not take kindly to the humans firing at us, but thanks to Optimus, none of us retaliated and we were able to get through our bridge after this fake Optimus escaped.
No, I wasn't the biggest fan of the mech. He had his faults and I was starting to see them during my investigation here. However, I did understand that the leader of the Autobots did have the safety of his troops in his processor along with the mission ahead. He would rather have had us pull out of the fight against the fake Optimus than have us stay there and risk one of the others retaliating. Optimus understood his troops and the need to pull out.
However, as Fowler hung up the phone call, it seemed like Fowler's superior did not see him in the same light.
"So, what's the damage?" Jack asked Fowler.
The government agent looked to him before answering. "All military personnel are under strict orders to destroy any and all 'Bots on sight."
"Please tell me you're joking?" Paul asked the man.
"But they're innocent," Raf added.
Then, Miko jumped in. "Optimus was framed!"
Of course, the humans were not the only ones who had reactions. "After everything that we have gone through with them, this is the thanks that we get?" Arcee growled as she started to pace.
"This is ridiculous," Sentinel started, "the humans have no right to,"
"To what?" I interrupted him with a glare. The room went quiet as Sentinel turned to me. "To be scared of beings who could just step in the wrong direction and kill them, let alone the idea that one of us is attacking them? If I was in their positions I would be scared too." I then marched up to the mech and looked up at him with narrowed optics. "You need to remember that we are on their planet as guests. Unless you wish to act as a Decepticon and take their rights away from them, then watch your glossa."
The room stayed quiet for a long time after that. How dare that pompous idiot start to say something like that! If it wasn't for the fact that our human allies were in the room with us, and could be injured, I would have been thrashing the mech for his selfishness.
"Though unfortunate," Optimus spoke, finally breaking the silence. "The military order changes nothing." I turned to the Prime with widened optics. Changes nothing? How the slag did he think that? "Our imposter poses a grave threat to humanity."
While that was true, that didn't mean that the military order was nothing. Again, the faults of the Prime that I had issues with. However, the government man in the room seemed to either not notice the error, or not care. "A thirty-foot tall transforming imposter."
"They actually did it," Chromia whispered. "They actually built one of us."
"Um...who are we talking about?" Balm whispered to me.
"MECH," Optimus said with a surprising growl in his vocals.
Seaspray then stepped forward. "I think I may be behind on some information here. Care to give a Wrecker some background?"
"MECH, a human terrorist organization that we have had contact with." Blaster started.
"They botnapped the Decepticons Vox and Breakdown," Wheeljack added, "and from the video footage we saw they tore them apart."
"And there are plenty of offline drones at our battlefields that it makes sense that MECH could have gotten a t-cog from one of them," Ironhide spoke up.
Springer then added his thoughts. "Which was eventually put into a knockoff of our leader, scanned a vehicle mode, and with a little energon added to the tank,"
"And say hello to Nemesis Prime!" Miko finished while naming the imposter. Nemesis Prime? Kinda catchy.
"So where do we start?" Fowler asked. "Next base could be anywhere."
But, as I was thinking about how Nemesis Prime was made, that didn't make sense. I don't think that the bot could be 'anywhere'. "Not anywhere," Prowl spoke. "While it seems that this 'MECH' has been able to utilize and, in cases, duplicate our biology,"
"They don't have the same technology we have!" Jazz finished with a smile. "Good thinking Prowler!"
"My name is Prowl, Jazz."
"Without access to a ground bridge," Ratchet caught on. "Nemesis Prime would rely solely on its vehicle mode for transportation."
"So the chances are high that MECH is located somewhere close to where both attacks happened," I added in.
"So what are we waiting for?" Paul spoke as he stood. "Let's go and make sure we take care of this problem right now."
"I'm with Paul on this one. We need to mash their science project to bits!" Agent Fowler agreed with the CEO.
"Agent Fowler, Paul;" Optimus started. "I do not think it advisable to put yourselves in harm's way of MECH's robot. Again in Paul's case." That caused both human adults to frown at Optimus.
"Well, wouldn't it be just as inadvisable for you all to be going outside of the base with our government gunning for any and all bots?" Paul shot a good point back at him.
"Like your kind would stand a chance against us." I heard Pitch mutter, causing me to glare at him.
But, before I could say anything, Optimus spoke. "We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary." He then turned to us. "Sentinel, Pitch, Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ironhide, and Chromia; you will join me in scouting out MECH's base. Everyone else, standby as backup in case it is needed."
I resisted the urge to roll my optics at that. But, I couldn't say much right now. We did need to take out the imposter before the situation could grow worse. Once the team was gone, I shook my helm and moved toward one of the hallways. "I'm going to hit the training room for a few cycles. Call me if anything comes up."
Once I started to move down the hall, I was not surprised when Wheeljack came to join me. We walked in silence for a few clicks before Wheeljack spoke up, surprisingly not on the subject of the mission. "So, she talk to you yet?"
Raising an optic ridge at the mech, I figured it was best to make him be more specific, even though I was sure I knew who he was talking about. "Which 'she' do you mean? Arcee? Flamewar? Chromia? Miko? June Darby? Balm? Give me a little more to work with than 'she'."
I ducked to dodge the helm-slap that he tried to give me. "Don't be a slagging pain in the aft. Like I would ask you about Flamewar?" He then shook his helm. "I mean Balm. Ever since she got here, she has been avoiding talking to us alone."
A sigh escaped me before I could stop it. I had noticed that too, but I wasn't sure how to approach it. Balm had told the two of us that she would tell us about her history with Pitch, finally in my case, when we returned to the base and where alone. Technically, she has kept her word. She hasn't been alone with the two of us since her arrival here. I knew her. She was purposefully avoiding the topic. Slagging femme. "No, she hasn't talked to me about it yet. I had a feeling that her saying that was too easy back then. I've been trying to get that story out of her for stellars."
It was making me angry that the femme was holding out on me. But, the little I did know told me that she was shaken by whatever happened. But, I needed to know. Pitch would just have another mark against him in my data, but I needed to know who the Decepticon was who helped her. I owed that Decepticon a favor...a big one. And not knowing meant that I risked hurting that very bot every time I went out on the battlefield.
"We can try and get her alone tomorrow," Wheeljack suggested. "After everything today, everybot is going to want to take a break. Plus, I have my checkup tomorrow with one of the medics. I can try to get it with her."
"Sounds like a plan." And it was the best shot we had right now. Between my mission and the tensions here at the base, me dropping in on Wheeljack's checkup tomorrow was the best chance for a while that I could see us getting her alone. She wouldn't be happy with the deceit but she would understand.
If this solar had shown me one thing, it was that trust was very fragile. A fake Optimus attacks Paul and, immediately, half of the base was ready to fire at Optimus without considering his side of the story. That wasn't helping my mission in the slightest. So many bots ready to turn on our leader at the hint of something wrong. Were the Autobots really in such a fragile state of mentality? Frag, if I did that every time somebot I knew was impersonated, then I wouldn't know many bots still online. Each side of the war would try and infiltrate ranks with a bot that could disguise themselves.
Something in my spark told me that this solar was only the beginning of a lot of stress coming up, so it would be best to make sure I was as prepared as I could be.
Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.
I sighed as I walked myself through the steps of my routine. According to Starscream and Blitzwing, my increasing awareness around me told them that my wings would probably pop within the next week. They said that I would be aware of more and more of my surroundings leading up to the pop until it happened. Then, according to them, my sensors would go into overdrive and I would have to be put on berth-arrest until my systems adjusted to the change.
To say I wasn't happy to hear that was an understatement.
Taking an intake I took out one of my swords and practiced those motions as my thoughts continued. I had finally gotten a real spar out of Crumplezone and Ransack but, outside of that, I hadn't had one since. Unfortunately, the other Decepticons who liked me had gotten word of our spar and had given the two mechs some 'advice' against doing that again.
Frag them all! I was an adult and a part of the Decepticons. I didn't want these fragging sparkling-step plans for my new education. The Autobots weren't just going to sit on their afts while the Decepticons trained me. Sooner or later, they were going to start moving forward quickly and we had to be ready. Going at this slow pace was not helping us get me ready for that eventuality.
A growl slipped my vocals as I performed a set of motions mimicking pressing the advantage against my imaginary opponent. Paul would not let them just sit back. I knew the god in human flesh was going to be going even harder against the Decepticons now that he knew that they were going to receive my full assistance in this fight. We had to be ready, and I needed to be as trained as I,
Turning quickly, I brought my blade up and blocked one from somebot that I sensed behind me. "Not the worse reflexes I've seen from an un-popped flyer." I narrowed my optics as I took in Thrust standing in front of me. What was he doing here? Ever since his plan had failed, the mech seemed to keep his distance from me. Now he was suddenly here with me alone? I wasn't having a good feeling about this. The only Thrusts I had information on from my past were the ones from G1 the Armada universe and, unfortunately, this one reminded me a lot of the one from Armada.
So, I pushed against our met blades, causing him to back up a few steps. "What do you want?" I tried to keep my tone as civil as I could, though that in itself was difficult with how the mech had treated me during the debate for his failed mission.
The seeker studied me for a nano before he responded. "I heard through my sources that you have been rather lacking in decent sparring sessions. I simply come to offer my services to help another Decepticon."
Right. Like I was going to believe that. However, as much as I didn't like the mech, he was offering to basically be my punching bag for the next few cycles while at the same time, hinting that he would try his hardest in the spar. While I didn't want to admit it, he made a point about my recent sparring sessions. Even the drones were holding back when we trained and I could take them on in a full fight. Thrust may be the only bot left on the ship, outside of Lord Megatron, who would spar me to push me to my limits.
"Rules?" I questioned the mech as I started to get into my stance.
He glanced at me before scoffing. "Come now. If we are training fully in a spar, then we train fully. The Autobots will not refrain from using whatever they can to defeat you. I will be doing that as well."
For a nano, I agreed with the mech. The next nano, however, had me backing up and raising my servo, which thankfully still had my broadsword in it, as Thrust lunged at me. "What the frag?" I growled out at the mech as I shoved him back, now on high alert.
"The Autobots won't give you a nano to wait. Why should I?" Thrust sneered at me before he came in again.
This time, though, I was ready and I started to block and evade the mech, all the while trying to find a rhythm to his fighting. If I could just catch onto that, then I would be able to move onto the offensive. After a few clicks, I had to hide my smirk as I saw what I was looking for. The pattern. So, after a few blocked attacks, I swung my sword and forced him back. Not wanting to give up the advantage, I moved quickly in front of him and kept up the pressure. "Are you ready to stand down?" I asked as I noticed that his intakes were cycling harder.
"Not yet," He growled before he launched back on the offensive. "You know femme, I may have been wrong about you."
What was he on about now? "What do you mean?" I questioned him as we continued to trade blows.
"You are much more capable than I first observed you to be. Not many can say they have last this long against me, even in a friendly spar." I wasn't liking the sweet tone he was talking in. It made me want to get sick. He was playing at something. "You are much more talented than you are given credit for. Your plan for my failed mission, in hindsight, was sound. Yet, mine was chosen over yours. Why is that?"
My optics narrowed as I continued to block him. I didn't like the direction this conversation was going. It was taking all of my restraint to hold back my anger. I didn't know what he was aiming at but I already didn't like it. "As it was, your plan wasn't unusable. Since I could not provide sufficient evidence to counteract it, your plan was the most thought out and sound. You could not help when things did not according to plan." I felt like he was trying to walk me into a trap. Hopefully, that got me out of it.
The two of us traded some more blows before he spoke again. "You avoided answering my question femme." He knew I was avoiding his trap. "That just tells me you know exactly why my plan was chosen over your improvements." I didn't like this. "You can be the most powerful being on this ship yet you are constantly held back. Your training has lessened since your transformation and you practically have to beg for any sort of advanced or serious training."
"What are you getting at?" I growled as I forced us out of a deadlock.
"They fear you." He almost purred as he charged at me swinging again. He was pushing me harder and I was having to move faster to avoid any major injuries. "They fear what you will become. Stand behind me, and no one will ever reject your desires. With time you could even be calling all of the shots." He had parted away from me as he said that.
As soon as he finished that line, I felt something in my processor and spark snap into alignment. My world felt like it had been slowed to a standstill, Thrust smirking in front of me. He...he dared to suggest that…
Instantly, I felt my vision turn red.
Lord Megatron's 1st P.O.V.
"Help! Somebot get in here and get this femme off me! She's going to offline me!"
Normally, I would ignore this and let my other officers deal with the fighting. However, from the sounds I could hear behind Thrust's words, I knew that Pandimala might be trying to offline the mech. I should have seen it coming.
Her held back anger at the mission going wrong before, this was the accumulation of that. Only a short while ago, I was informed by Starscream that they had cut the femme's training back so they didn't press her new chassis while she was getting used to it. Immediately, I had informed the mech that he needed to resume and increase her training now more than ever. Her processor needed the familiarity that training gave as well as the release.
However, that warning came too late. Now, as I moved quickly toward the training room that Thrust's hail was coming from, that anger and restraint were coming to a front. If I was lucky, the femme would react to my presence as she always did; stopping all she was doing and observe what I might need. I found myself doubting that situation, however convenient it would be. We had been waiting for this reaction from the femme since her transformation, a lash-out due to her triple changer programming.
Seeing as the door to the training room was still closed on my arrival, it seemed like I was the first to arrive. No matter. As I neared the door, I could hear the sound somebot being thrown around in there. Once the door was open, I observed the scene in front of me.
Pandimala was entirely focused on Thrust and the fury in her optics was plain. I could sense the anger coming off of her from here as she threw Thrust around the room, slamming him into the walls and dragging his faceplate against the wall. As she kicked him away from her, I decided to stop in. "Enough Pandimala!"
To only my slight surprise, the femme continued on attacking the mech as if she did not hear me. What had caused the femme to have a surge of fury this powerful? No matter, I needed to stop her from offlining Thrust and I needed that to happen now.
Blitzwing, who seemed to have just entered the room, glanced at me. In turn, I motioned my helm toward the rampaging femme. The triple changer nodded once before moving forward. While I could have restrained he femme myself, I would miss the opportunity to see the femme's reaction as she was. "Slag Pandimala, stand down!" Hothead yelled at the femme as he hooked his arms under hers and tried to pull the femme away from Thrust, who was half-conscious on the floor in front of her.
Even with Blitzwing pulling her, with difficulty, away from the target of her anger, Pandimala didn't seem to be ready to stand down. She was clawing and pushing against Blitzwing to get at the mech on the ground. The rage in her optics was hard to compare to much I had seen. No words were coming out of the femme's mouth, only snarls, shrieks, and growls at the mech on the floor. She was like a predator in a frenzy. Nothing was going to stand in the way of her and her prize if she could help it.
I could hear the other Decepticons behind me as Blitzwing struggled to restrain the femme. "Knockout," The red medic stepped forward as I spoke to him. "Sedate Pandimala and have Blitzwing take her to her room. She will recharge there until we are ready to question her."
"Y...yes, my Lord," Was Knockout's hesitant reply before he moved forward. Toward the thrashing femme in Blitzwing's servos. A few clicks later, the femme was in a forced stasis, her previously struggling frame now silent as it was slouched against Blitzwing.
"Hook, see to Thrust's injuries and report back to me," I instructed my other medic as I turned to leave.
Once I was away from the other Decepticons, I allowed a frown to take over my features. The femme didn't even seem to register any of the words I spoke to her. Ever since our first encounter, the femme had always heeded my words as soon as I entered the room. Her panic after her transformation hadn't even impeded on that.
And yet, here I was. The femme had so much fury coming off of her that I could not break through her audios to have her recognize my arrival. As I thought more about the situation, and the odd behavior from Pandimala, I realized that it was time. "Shockwave, report to the bridge immediately," I spoke into the comm as I entered the bridge.
It was time to find out answers.
Starscream: *narrows optics* Femme, what are you doing?
Authoress: *nervous* Nothing of too much importance.
Dreadwing: *walks in* I very much doubt that femme.
Authoress: *gulps*
AN: And lookie here! A new chapter! See I can do quick updates. And what an update it was! Firstly, we got a good bit of Autobot interaction in this chapter. We can see some of Zarron's trouble in his mission to observe the morals of the Autobots with the different interactions. Plus, the fact that Paul was the one to be driven off the road was too good to pass up. Plus, we get some more introspective view of it all. Finally, with the Autobots, Zarron and Wheeljack talk about Balm, who is actively avoiding them to prevent them from knowing about the incident with Pitch that she experienced.
Then, we move to the Decepticons. Pandimala seems to be frustrated that her new training partners were found out by the others. Unfortunately for her, Thrust comes in and convinces her into a spar. This seems to bring out his plan for the femme. It seems like he wants her to take over where Starscream left off and take control of the Decepticons. Unfortunately for him, he has underestimated her loyalty to Lord Megatron...severely. We then move to Megatron's view and he comes in on the femme (unbeknownst to him) fighting against Thrust for his traitorous actions. She won't even stand down on Lord Megatron's order. This results in the femme being forced into stasis. And then there is the ending there. What does Megatron need Shockwave for? I guess we will find out next time.
Speaking of next time, here are the next chapters and what they used to be.
Chapter 34: Trust Fall Grill
Chapter 35: Full Disclosure Armada
Chapter 36:...(Find out next chapter XD )
And that's all for now. Drop a review if you please, or just say hi! Until next time, TTYL! *loving side effects of quarantine*