Chapter 7: Disappearing Act
Ironhide and Hound dragged Mirage into an abandoned Tarn warehouse, not far from the street he had been apprehended, as Prowl walked over to Orion Pax, gesturing for the squad commander to follow him into a side room.
The second he was in, Prowl slammed the door shut.
"I would like to take this time to remind you that we are already in violation of Zeta Prime's orders. We were never supposed to capture him." Prowl warned in a stressed tone.
Orion made optic contact with Prowl, face set and serious.
"Would you like to contact Zeta Prime and discuss it?" He asked.
Prowl seemed to wither under his optics.
"I mean...no...obviously not."
"Do you object to this?" Orion asked. "What we've done?"
"Not really." Prowl said after a moment of hesitation. "None of this feels right to me. This whole operation, the fact that Mirage surrendered without a fight..."
"The fact that he still wears his autobot badge." Orion added. "I understand you don't like disobeying orders, Prowl. I don't either. But this situation is extremely irregular."
"So we doin this?" Ironhide asked, pulling out his rifle.
"Just hold off a second." Hound said, putting up a hand. "Why'd you do it, Mirage?" He asked.
Mirage looked over at Hound. He was on his knees, on the dirty warehouse ground. But his features remained relaxed.
"You'll have to ask me something more specific." The prisoner replied. "That's vague."
Hound let out a groan of disgust.
"Why did you betray us? What did Megatron promise you that we couldn't?" He demanded.
Mirage let out a sigh, and bowed his head.
"So that's what Zeta told you, is it? That I'm a traitor?"
"He said you were defectin." Jazz spoke up, walking up to mech. "Said you was bringin intel to Megatron. That's why we had to take you out."
"So I suggest you make peace with Primus." Ironhide said sourly, lifting his blaster off his back.
"That's enough." Orion said, walking in.
"I was just talkin to him." Ironhide replied innocently.
"You've been doing too much talkin today, Ironhide." Jazz remarked. "Let the accused speak, big man."
"So what do you need to show me?" Orion demanded, arms folded.
Mirage reached into a side pouch, and pulled out a circular projector.
"Oh this'll end well." Ironhide remarked, blaster trained on Mirage's head. "Just give the word, Pax."
"No tricks. I promise." Mirage insisted. "Most of you know me. Trust me. Please."
He placed it down.
A hologram rose up from it.
Prowl frowned, standing next to Pax, as the giant green hologram filled the room, casting a green glow over the warehouse interior.
"Blueprints?"
"That looks like the Citadel." Hound observed. "The new tower. They've been working on that thing for months."
"It is." Orion confirmed, looking at the shape of it. "They just finished construction. It's an expansion. A new tower for the Citadel. They'll call it the hall of Nova, in honor of Nova Prime."
"Except it isn't a tower." Mirage said, adjusting one of the buttons on the projector.
The tower began to change shape, red sections appearing in the green hologram, as the metals began to slide aside, and a jagged looking object formed, turning and pointing outward.
"What in the name a Primus...?" Ironhide asked, his blaster slowly sinking downward.
The autobots stared in confusion at the giant object that appeared before them.
"Tell me that ain't a big aft gun." Jazz said, looking around the room.
"It's some kind of...cannon array." Prowl noted, optics analyzing every detail. "The power output must be tremendous..."
"It's a rust cannon." Mirage said bluntly.
"What?!" Orion asked, his head turning to Mirage, optics wide with shock. "Rust weaponry was banned under the Nominus accords. They haven't been used since the dark ages. Zeta used to teach this, he would never allow this to be built on Citadel grounds..."
"Indeed. That's what I thought too. Unfortunately I didn't much of a chance to lecture Zeta on the implications. Once he knew I had seen the data, and I spoke to him...it was a heated exchange...he exiled me from the autobots. Then had you five sent out here to shut me up." Mirage explained. "I made a mistake. Threatened to go public. He said I would be executed for treason if I tried anything. Clearly he didn't wait to find out. You are my execution squad."
The autobots exchanged conflicted glances.
"Hold up. It ain't over." Jazz observed, pointing to the hologram.
The weapon seemed to pulse, and then fire, sending out a wave that traveled across the holo-map of Cybertron.
And landed in Kaon. Sending out a wave of orange light.
A massive wave, that consumed the city.
"Zeta Prime is going to end the decepticon threat." Mirage stated. "By destroying Kaon. And killing every single living thing in it."
Bumblebee and Arcee rolled through the city of Altihex, the massive green autobot stronghold appearing in front of them.
A giant red autobot badge painted into the main wall of it. Outside of the autobot academy in Tetrahex, and the Citadel, this was the largest autobot installation on the planet.
"See, piece of cake." Bumblebee remarked sarcastically, as his beat up alt mode rolled toward the main gate.
"Yeah, you're gonna need a medic." Arcee observed, noticing a trail of energon from his undercarriage. "This your first job?"
"Yeah. I think I did alright, all things considered." Bumblebee replied nervously, as they rolled into the gate.
The two transformed up.
"You did fantastic." Arcee assured. "You delivered the data, and busted Barricade. That's a heck of a day's work for a rookie."
Bumblebee let out a chuckle. "No. You busted Barricade. I got busted up by Barricade."
Arcee walked with Bumblebee toward the main hub, passing boatloads of autobot soldiers.
They stopped near the main chamber, and Arcee leaned down, putting a hand on the young mech's shoulder.
"Look. Not many bots have gone up against Starscream solo and come out alive. Not many bots would think to turn their comms on with their life on the line like that. You just provided the proof needed to nail an autobot traitor. You're special, Bumblebee. Trust me, I've seen a lot of generic bots come and go, you're not one of them."
Bumblebee nodded, a nervous smile on his face. He didn't know what to do when receiving compliments. He never received them.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." He managed.
"You have my comms frequency. If anybody gives you trouble on a delivery, call for me. I'll kick their aft, okay?" Arcee offered.
Bumblebee nodded again, smiling. "Thank you."
"Alright now get outta here you little scamp." Arcee said, patting Bumblebee on the helm, and turning back to the police convoy.
"I have to go deliver Barricade to Iacon. Good luck."
Bumblebee waved goodbye to the femme, then turned back to the task at hand.
He walked into the main chamber.
"Oy. You my Courier?" A brown and tan mech asked, stomping up.
"Um...yeah." Bumblebee replied, holding up the data packet.
"You're late!" The mech shouted, snatching it from his digits. "No pay and no rations!"
Bumblebee stared blankly back at the angry mech, as he stopped the ruse and began to giggle.
"Oh cmon mate, I'm just playin with ya. I heard what happened on the freeway. You did good out there. I'm Outback, nice to meet ya." He said, roughly shaking the mech's hand. "I run this place, you need anything you come to me, right?"
Bumblebee nodded, looking down at his own crumpled frame, and the trail of energon running down his throat.
"I need a medic. Oh, and Ironhide says hi."
The mechs stood in silence, around Mirage.
Absorbing what they had just seen.
"It's brilliant." Prowl finally stated.
Orion turned to look at him in disbelief.
"Brilliant?!"
"It would be effective!" Prowl argued. "You take out Kaon, you end Megatron, his top lieutenants, you end the decepticons."
"Oh yeah. Brilliant." Jazz agreed. "All it costs you is the second largest city on the planet and millions of lives, most of which probably ain't even decepticon."
"Orion Pax, I brought this to you because I saw your speech before the old senate. I know you would not stand by and allow this to happen." Mirage stated.
Orion pinched his nasal ridge, feeling truly overwhelmed by the information that lay before him.
"Orion. I'm a soldier." Ironhide said, walking towards him. "I've fought on more planets than you've heard of, and I've done and seen my share of...grey stuff."
"Grey stuff?" Mirage asked.
"Hey, you watch yourself." Ironhide warned. "I still don't like you."
"Noted." Mirage replied, looking away.
"What was I sayin? Ugh, dammit Mirage..." Ironhide muttered, rubbing his head. "Oh. Yeah. Grey stuff. I get that there's some immorality to wartime tactics but...this ain't for fightin a war. This is...terrorism." He said, pointing to the hologram. "Sanctioned terrorism. This is some real icky stuff. I'd have second thoughts about unleashing this on a hostile world, let alone our own planet."
"I agree." Hound added. "I signed up for the autobots because I was told we were done with stuff like this. Primal Vanguard stuff. I signed up to help people."
"We all did." Mirage agreed, still on the floor. He looked up at Pax. "You had a hand in creating the autobots, Pax. That weapon has your badge on it. You have to do something."
Orion looked down at the floor and let out a long sigh. Covering his face with his hand as his mind raced.
"I need to speak to Zeta Prime. This cannot stand. And the fact that he was willing to kill in order to keep it quiet...is disturbing." He looked down at Mirage. "You swear on your life that this is authentic?"
Mirage looked at Prowl.
"You are an intelligence officer, yes?" He asked.
Prowl stepped forward, and let out a sigh, as he analyzed the hologram.
"It has Kimia's timestamp on it." Prowl said.
"Kimia?" Jazz asked.
"Autobot space station. Specializes in weapons development." Prowl replied. He looked at Orion, his optics conflicted.
"Pax...this is legit. And based on the timestamp, it's already finished."
Orion felt anger swell up in the pit of his fuel tank.
He looked at the autobot badge in the corner of the hologram.
His idea. His faction. And it had been bastardized.
By someone he trusted. Someone he had always trusted.
He looked down at Mirage.
"You need to go. Get off the grid. If we bring you in, it's probably only a matter of time until Zeta Prime has you killed."
He couldn't believe he was saying these words about his own friend, but the last half hour had shown him a lot of painful truths.
Mirage stood up, and saluted.
"Thank you Orion Pax." He said. "You've earned my trust today. And my loyalty. Both are hard earned. If you ever require assistance, you may call on me. I am in your debt."
Orion looked out the window at the cars driving by, and the sky spies roving the air.
"We need Prime to think we took care of you. And that means you need to disappear. Leave no trace."
Mirage nodded.
"That is a speciality of mine."
He squeezed his fist, and with an uncomfortable grin, he vanished.
Leaving the original five autobots with a lot of new information to absorb.
"So what now?" Prowl asked.
"Now we return to Iacon." Orion replied. "Tell Zeta the job's done. And find out why he's building a weapon of mass destruction on the Citadel."
authors note: So yeah, for those of you keeping up with this story, it's getting updated pretty regularly. That's because it's going to be 45 chapters long, and I already wrote it's sequel. I'm going to be pumping these chapters out pretty regularly, likely two times a week. I hope you enjoy the ride, because I've loved every minute of writing this story. Thanks all.*