Chapter 12: Clearing the Air

The door to Outback's office slid open.

Bumblebee walked in slowly. Outback nodded to him from his desk.

"How ya doin lad?" He asked, as he looked at a datpad.

Bumblebee sighed.

"I um...I came to give you this." He said, pulling his autobot badge off and putting it on the desk. "I resign." He said glumly.

Outback frowned, picking up the badge and feeling it in his hand.

"Resign?" He replied. "Did I hear that right?"

"Yeah." Bumblebee replied. "I am...not a soldier. I'm not a cop. I'm a civilian. A delivery driver. This could end up being a war and I'm just not qualified for that."

"Mate! Ya had one rough delivery!" Outback said, waving the badge in his hand. "And you did well! You rose to the occasion! There is a decepticon spy in Citadel lockup because of your quick thinking. I mean...I'm not accepting this." He said, tossing the badge back across the desk. "You're good at what you do. You believe in the cause, right?"

Bumblebee nodded.

"I do. I believe in the autobots and what they stand for, I don't like the decepticons, that's not what this is about..."

"You're afraid." Outback replied.

Bumblebee stared back at him for a moment.

Then he hung his head.

"Yeah." He admitted.

Outback nodded.

"Oy. Pick ya head up right now. You look at me."

Bumblebee obliged the mech, and stared into his optics.

"Now I run this place. This is the staging ground for half of all ops on Cybertron. And I am terrified."

Bumblebee's optics widened.

"You?" He asked. "What are you terrified of?"

"The same thing you are, mate." Outback replied. "The decepticons. Pain. Death. Loss. The idea that I might not make it home. The idea that war is on the horizon. Cybertron is a scary place Bumblebee. It's getting scarier and more dangerous every day. Fear is natural."

"You don't understand sir, I'm...afraid. Like really afraid." Bumblebee insisted.

"And so am I. So are those soldiers out there. But we have to keep fighting mate. Because there's no escape from this. There isn't. You can either take your fear, and your panic, and stick your head in the sand, or you can pick up a gun and do something about it." He said, sitting back. "We do our part to make Cybertron safer, every day. And if we die, hey...maybe there's an afterspark. But that's the point. We make the best of what we have, while we have it. We do our best for our world." He stood up, and picked up the badge, then held it in his hand.

"Now. Do you want me to keep this?" He asked.

Bumblebee looked at him, then back at the badge.

Then he grabbed the badge, and placed it on his chest.

"Apologies sir." He said, turning and walking out.

"None needed." Outback replied, watching him go.

"This is crazy. Even for us." Hound stated.

"I agree, but we have to go with it." Orion said, arms crossed. "Right now, we need as many allies as we can get. Zeta Prime...is so much worse than what I ever could have imagined. And if he really is planning to level Kaon then Megatron is right. Regardless of faction, we have to stop him."

"Pax. We could be destroying Cybertron's only safeguard against Megatron, you understand that right?" Prowl asked worriedly.

"Safeguard?" Pax asked in disbelief. "This is a weapon designed to level entire cities. Kill millions. This is not a safeguard, Prowl, it's a war crime."

Prowl sighed.

"I know. But it could avert the war, Pax. It could save thousands of lives."

"I hate to agree with Prowl...I mean really hate it." Ironhide drawled. "But man...are we really trusting the decepticons on this one?"

"Nobody said we have to trust them." Jazz said, entering the conversation. "We use em though. We would need help takin that gun out anyway. If they try anything, well...we'll be armed, in a building full of autobots."

"Autobots that have been ordered to kill us." Hound added bluntly. "Something they will surely do when they see us with Megatron."

"Don't you see?" Orion asked. "We have a chance...a chance to change history. If we work with the decepticons on this...we can avoid war altogether. We could have peace. We overthrow Zeta Prime, and there's no one left for Megatron to fight."

"Except you." Prowl stated.

"I can get through to him." Orion stated. "We were like brothers once. I can convince him."

"Pax...the last time you tried to convince him, Ratchet had to spend a day putting you back together." Prowl said. "He left you on the edge of death. And an argument could be made that he's even more radical now than he was then."

Orion stood up.

"Where you think youre goin?" Ironhide asked.

"To have a talk." Orion replied, opening the door. "No point sitting around thinking about what he might do, what he might be. I want to hear it from him."

"It's a shame." Megatron lamented, as he tossed Onslaught aside easily. "I thought you were made of sterner stuff."

Onslaught chuckled as he stood himself back up.

"You think this is all I have to give?" He asked, cracking his knuckles.

"If you wish to lead the combaticons, then I certainly hope not." Megatron replied, holding up his own fists.

He had removed his fusion cannon, as he sparred.

Onslaught charged at him, and Megatron turned, punched him in the fuel tank, then sent him flying out of the ring.

"Too much momentum, Onslaught. No stability." Megatron lectured.

"Megatron." Orion called, walking down the dark hallway, toward the group.

The grey mech turned to face him.

"Orion. Nice to see you up and about." Megatron said with a smile. "Care to spar?"

"No, I wish to speak to you." Orion replied, to the disappointment, and amusement of the gathered decepticons.

"Ha! The autobot is a coward!" Brawl boomed.

"Of course he's scared!" Skywarp added. "He remembers what happened last time."

The other decepticons joined in laughing at Orion.

The mech's blue optics narrowed. He felt a rage building up within him.

"If you insist..." he spoke.

"I promise I'll go easier on you than last time." Megatron sneered.

Orion stormed into the ring, clenching his fist.

Memories of their last fight still fresh in his processor. He had to focus. Not let emotions cloud him.

Be precise. It wasn't working too well so far.

"So what did you have to talk to me about?" Megatron asked, putting up his fists.

"Later." Orion replied, punching the mech in the stomach.

It was like punching a tank tread. Every inch of the mech felt unbreakable. Orion resisted the urge to shake his now throbbing hand.

"I find I think best when fighting." Megatron replied. "So talk." He said, shoving Pax's fist aside and punching him in the chest, hard enough to knock him back.

Orion clutched at his chest, then quickly lowered his hand.

Don't show weakness. Not here.

"I want to know what's next." He said, putting his own, smaller fists up. "What's next if we destroy the cannon, and overthrow Zeta Prime?"

"Next?" Megatron asked, swinging a punch that Orion dodged. "Nothing is next. If Cybertron is returned to the governing of the people my decepticons shall cease. I have said this before."

"You're saying there would be peace?" Orion asked.

"Of course." Megatron replied. "Peace has always been my goal."

Orion's face hardened.

"You're a liar." He breathed.

"What?" Megatron asked, arching an optic ridge.

Orion charged ahead and punched him in the fuel tank, then uppercut his jaw.

"You're a liar!" Pax shouted. "I compromised everything that I was, because I believed in you! And for what?!" He asked, spinning around and punching Megatron across the face again.

Megatron felt the energon drip coming from his mouth.

"You weren't the only one who compromised, Pax." He said quietly, red optics looking up at the angry mech.

"No." Pax replied. "But I'm the only one who regrets it. I believed in you. I tried to help you, and you rewarded me by becoming everything we were fighting against!"

Megatron grabbed his attacking fist, and shoved it back, then punched Orion across the face.

Hard.

"Everything we fought against? Sentinel Prime? The functionists?!" Megatron demanded, grabbing Orion by the audio and lifting him back up.

Orion stared at the mech in shock. The rage in his face snapped back to the pit, a year ago.

Uncontrollable, it appeared. But Megatron was fully in control.

"Don't you dare compare me to them, Pax. What I do, I do for all of Cybertron. What they did was for themselves!" He let go of his audio, letting Pax drop back onto the ground.

Orion fell on his aft, and let out a long sigh as he slowly stood up.

He got on one knee and looked up at Megatron.

"And in the end, petty vengeance tore us apart. In the end, you made a choice. You chose to oppose me and the autobots."

"AND I WAS RIGHT, PAX!" Megatron shouted. "Zeta Prime is just as bad as Sentinel, just as I was warned he would be. He plans to destroy an entire city, kill millions, just to kill me and my loyalists. And yet the news calls ME a terrorist?!"

Orion let out another hard vent as he stood up.

"You're right. Zeta Prime was a mistake." He admitted. "But so were you. Bombing buildings? Assassinations? I never thought you would sink that low."

"Peaceful protest doesn't work, Pax." Megatron stated, letting out a long vent of his own. "The world doesn't become what you want it to be until you force it to. That's what I'm doing. I'm shaping Cybertron. I want it to be something more. I want it to be fair. Is that so wrong?"

"It is if you murder in order to get there." Orion replied.

Megatron nodded slowly.

"Okay Pax. Okay. What if tomorrow we come face to face with Zeta Prime? The mech who ordered your murder. The mech who plans to murder millions. What would you do?"

Pax thought on it.

"I would strip him of his primacy and have him arrested. For corruption." Orion finally replied.

Megatron let out a humorless chuckle and shook his head.

"No. No, Orion. You see mechs like that would never allow you to strip them of their rank, throw them in prison. Mechs like that must be killed. And tomorrow we will have to kill Zeta Prime, in order for there to be peace. If you see that as a compromise you can't handle, you are free to leave Orion. But know this. I don't want you to."

Orion's frame heaved as he spat out some of his own energon, and looked into the surprisingly sympathetic optics of the mech.

He was surprised by his words. Genuinely surprised.

"You are the one that I think will one day lead this world, Orion. You're a better mech than me. Than any of us. I've tried countless times to make you a decepticon. And you've resisted. And it's because your ideals, your beliefs, are too lofty for us. We're resistance fighters. Soldiers. You are so much more."

Orion stared into Megatron's optics a moment longer, looking, skepticism spreading on his face.

"I'm not sure I believe you."

"Believe what you wish. Tomorrow, when that rust cannon is destroyed, and Zeta Prime falls, our future will be secure. Autobots. Decepticons. Everyone. So stand with me Pax. The only way Cybertron can move forward, is united."

Orion let out another low vent, then nodded.

"I agree."

Megatron smiled, and walked forward, arms held out. Orion's optics widened, and he put up his fists defensively.

Megatron continued stepping towards him.

And embraced the mech.

"I missed you, brother." Megatron declared, relief in his voice.