Updated - 07~02~2020

Rewritten - 04~07~2021

Trigger

18 mega-cycles before

She walked into the police station, with a pair of energon cubes in servos. She was expecting a easy turn, few things to deal with. It was gonna be a low personnel day, so there wouldn't be much hustle and bustle around neither. It was one of those rare moments when there was barely no movement around and it was pleasant. Those days were her favorite ones. No noise, no extra work, no chaos... She smiled gladly. It was gonna be a good day.

Even if she had a really good relationship with her work mates, she was respected around them. She was a high ranked officer in station 12, alongside the Inspector Prowl. During years, she got herself a reputation, gaining recognitions from her successful missions. Due to it, there were cadets that looked up to her, inspired to follow her steps. She would never admit it, but that made her feel proud.

Her step came to a step by the entrance post, where a young officer was absorbed in his computer screen. The femme leaned oven the counter, and awaited, looking at him as he worked. At certain point, the pale blue mech got to notice there was someone standing right in front of him. He slowly raised his helm and, as soon as he recognized her, he jumped in surprise onto his pedes, and saluted her.

"Agent One! I mean, Co… Commander!" He stuttered, nervously, lightly shaking his helm. "Good… Good morning!"

"Morning, Gears." She replied serenely.

Gears Gearson was a young cop officer recently graduated. He hadn't been the best at field missions, but he had proven quite good aptitude for immediate recognition of possible threatens. Besides, he had quite stood out when it came to computers.

After graduation, he had been given the entrance post as his new workplace. His job consisted on giving indications to newcomers, check who made it in, and more important yet, detect imminent danger. When serious cases presented themselves, he would neutralize them in place before proceeding to detain them. Gears, all in all, hadn't been the best in his promotion, but he had managed to get the post he had always dreamed of.

"Anything new so far?" The azure femme asked.

"Nothing new yet. Everything is in tracks" He shook his helm a no. "If anything happens, I'll keep you informed."

"Good to hear that." She nodded, satisfied. "Thank you, Gears." She replied by placing one of the cubes before him. He grinned thankfully and bowed in gratitude. "You're superb, Gears, superb!" She turned to leave when she was suddenly stopped.

"Wait! Maybe there's something I got to tell you." He began looking down at the counter.

Arcee got closer to him, sensing something was not right. Her face reflected that of worry, still maintaining a neutral expression. He remained silent for a moment, looking around before he leaned forwards, finally speaking in a whisper.

"It may be a trifle, but got a bad feeling." He explained uneasy. "Today, by the dawn, when there was still no light in the streets, I got out for some running. I made it through the streets in my usual route, but I did felt something odd."

"What was it?" She inquired, listening to him carefully. In the past, when Gears had happened to have a hunch, he had proven to be right most of the times. Not many officers believed him about them, but she trusted him.

"I was on my way to the obelisk plaza, when I devised a pair of suspicious cybertronians carrying something in northwest direction."

"Towards Kaon." She concluded, frowning. "By that time, I was returning from my patrol shift, so the frontier would be clear." The femme pondered. "Did you see anything else?"

"Not much." He shook his helm. "It was still dark to get an idea of what was going on. All I know is that they were wearing visors, since I could not see their biolights. They stared shortly at me before sneaking away between the shadows. I did not had the chance to go after them, but I can confirm they were both ground vehicles." He silenced for a moment as Arcee gave a thought about his last words. "Oh, and one more thing, it was around 04:47 when it happened, I know it became I check the time before I left home, and it takes me almost twenty breems to get there."

"It's all right, Gears. I'm glad you're unharmed. You should never confront danger on your own." Her words carried no scolding. "I'll investigate what you told me, and see what I get. I would require though your route, and exact location where you came across them."

"Immediately." He said, nodding once and getting down to it.

Arcee left the young officer working, walking her way further into the station, deep in thoughts now. She did greet some of her colleagues along the way, until she finally made it to the black and white mech standing at the back of the stance. He was going over some information displayed onto the big blueish screen at the wall, surely checking few things on a case.

He was the inspector Prowl, a cop who had gained his renown by his efficiency at solving cases. He wasn't much of a joking type of mech. He rather stay quiet and work on something than waisting his time around. He was well known too for his perseverance and apparently never ending patience. He was one of the most competent agents the station 12 had, always staying loyal to his duties.

The femme did not reply anything as she stared at the screen too, immediately familiarizing with the data. She silently offered the cube she was holding to the concentrated mech, who took it without exchanging a word. He took a sip from his now energon.

"Excellent, as always." He admitted. "Thank you, 'Cee." She hummed her reply, still analyzing what she had in front.

"What are you working on?" She inquired, still not looking at him.

"The Green case." Prowl resumed. "Remember the crime syndicates who tried to traffic with ToxEn?" She nodded. "Well, we've just closed the case. Our inside agent has provided us what we needed to dismantle it. They're being processed right now."

"That was our last open case." The femme commented quietly, content. "We did it again."

"That's why our station is the first one at the at closed case ranking." The mech replied, finally collapsing the information of the screen into a labeled data pad, ready to be stored at the archive. "Although I'm afraid break won't last long."

"No, it won't." Arcee's mind traveled back to what the young officer had told her before, frowning.

"I know that look." Prowl inquired, finally standing face to face with her. "What are you brooding?"

"Just giving a thought to something Gears told me." Her gaze finally met his, serious. "I think he might have been a witness of something important, something that would worth investigating."

"I did have the feeling he was quite anxious today." The mech pondered. "If you need any help with that, you can both count on me."

"Appreciate." She would have get him up to date when the Commander stomped out of his office. All gazes turned in his direction as he seemed to be angry.

"I want all of you to leave whatever you are doing. Call upon every agent we've got, and reunite at the auditorium in ten breems." He had stated impossibly serious. "We do have a situation."

Ultra Magnus was known for his strict attitude and his vocation for rules. He always stuck to the protocol, although he was a rightful mech that treated his subordinates with respect.

Iacon High Council had chosen him, time ago, to be in charge of the military forces, over the city, being the direct superior to both police and Elite Guard. From time to time he used to pay a visit to other stations, making sure procedures were maintained and work was well done. He had finally decided to settle his headquarters at the station 12, as he considered it the model to follow due to its efficiency.

Arcee looked at Prowl concerned while he remained stoic.

"Must be serious." He had concluded, his opticsbrows lightly moving downwards. She did not have time to reply anything. The Commander had then turned to look at them both.

"Agent One, to my office. Now." He had added before turning around and disappearing through the door, into his office once again.

"Was he referring to you or me?" She couldn't avoid raising an opticbrow in confusion. "I'm never sure about it."

"It was to you." He stated convinced. "It's quite easy to distinguish it. Magnus accentuates agent when referring to you, and One when referring to me." He shortly explained, what got her looking at him skeptically. "You should go before he loses his temper."

She silently greeted and walked her way to the office. She entered in and closed the door, then awaited until the blue and red mech said something. The Commander finally raised his gaze from the data pad he was consulting and gestured her to have a sit.

"The reason I called you here is because Iacon might be facing now its darkest time." Magnus began. "We've gone through many difficult situations, but this one will require of each and everyone of us."

"What happened?" She got serious.

"Simply put, we do have confirmed suspicions that, yesterday night, someone broke into the Iacon Hall of Records' most secure vault. We still don't know if they did managed to retrieve something from it or not."

"Are there any clues that might point at the responsible?" Arcee immediately got into work.

"Not much." He denied. "But if they made it this far, it could only be them."

"Seekers…" She diverted her gaze, resentful, before locking it back with his. "Those are mayor words. We might need to deploy all our Elite Guards."

"Media still don't know anything about this incident. I wouldn't like population to get to know it right away, not without having the situation under control. It would be counterproductive." Ultra Magnus tended her a data pad to her, which she immediately grabbed and had a look. "Here you've got all the information we got about the assault."

"Is not much."

"No is not. That's why I want you to go there and talk to the archivists that were there at the moment. Try get as much information as you can." She nodded and stood up, directing herself towards the exit. "Arcee, I'm not done yet." She turned to face him from the place as he continued, this time more solemn. "I know what happened to your partner Tailgate…" Her expression hardened. "… And that you rather work alone, but I don't want anyone going on solo. Take someone with you."

The femme did not reply immediately, but after few clicks she finally gave up and accepted her condition.

"Yes, Sir. Will do." She then opened the door and strode out, towards the exit.

Arcee found quite some cybertronians now in the place as agents had slowly attended to the call. Seeing her coming they got out of her way, granting her free way to continue her path. She found Jazz somewhere over the entrance of the station, who turned to face her.

"Yo, Arcee, what's going on?" Jazz had been the first one to talk, folding his visor away to look at her. He was usually a really outgoing mech, but this time he showed concern. "Why are we been summoned?"

"Cliffjumper hasn't arrived yet?" She inquired, gazing around over the multitude.

"No, he was at the other side of the city by the time I contacted him. He might be on his way." He informed her.

"Well, there's no time now to wait for him. You'll come with me, I'll get you up to date while we get to the Record Hall." She immediately ordered. Jazz followed after her and got themselves to the street.

The building they were looking for wasn't too far away from the station itself, so they had decided to go on pede instead of transforming, what would grant them enough time to get into situation. Once they were in the move Arcee tended the data pad Magnus had given her and tended it to Jazz, who immediately got through it.

"Yesterday in the middle of the night, there was an assault…" Jazz commented, extracting main ideas from the report. "… The suspect was caught running away from the scene by the alt mode shop cameras in front of the Hall." He gave a look at the poorly lit blurry picture attached to it before looking at Arcee. "Doesn't give much away. Maybe the cameras inside got a better image of the intruder."

"We hope." She agreed, lowering her voice. "Magnus has already alerted the other stations and is gonna reinforce the security in the city. Mirage is gonna organize the Elite Guards' new shifts to guard the perimeter, specially northwest side."

"You know…?" He began speaking his mind, as he returned the data pad to her. "… I found it quite contradictory. If the Seekers had been behind this, we would have never gotten to know they were here. I mean, we would not even get a picture of the suspect. They always take the most negligible detail into account in their mission, and novices never go on their own. There's something that makes no sense."

"I did had the same feeling." She confirmed, looking at him briefly. "And we've better hope it wasn't them. The objective was to steal confidential information that could get the whole city in a tight position. Imagine that in Seeker servos." She added, looking around instinctively.

"We would be doomed." Jazz concluded. "If they really managed to steal whatever lays within the vault we could see ourselves in the middle of a war."

"Exactly." Her gaze fixed in the building that came into view. There it was. They soon readhed it and walked in discretely, playing natural in front of civilians, avoiding attract undesired attention.

The Iacon Hall of Records was a building with high domes and large spaces. Their steps echoed, what somehow gave them a feeling of respect for the place. The building itself was an old architectonic piece that endured for millennia, still looking as good as new. Arcee had to admit that although the it was of public access, and she had been plenty of times there, she did not pay it all the attention it deserved till now.

Both Elite Guards admired it shortly as they advanced forwards towards the reception. The library was still open, trying to operate as usual, giving the impression nothing had happened there. Instead, they did notice a sign indicating there were maintenance duties going on at the storage domes, closing the section and restringing access to unauthorized cybertronians. It had been a cleaver measure not to arise suspicions.

Arcee and Jazz got to the information spot, where they found the young archivist, Orion Pax, waiting for them. He was no stranger to her. He had been a long time acquaintance to her family, until her elder sister, Elita, had grown closer to him. He had become something of a brother to her, what given the situation would make the whole thing easier.

"Orion." Arcee greeted with a subtitle grin.

"Arcee, good to see you. Jazz." He smiled back, softly. "You may want to know what happened, so I'll guide you there." He said silently, leading them through the corridors, away from civilians. Once they were out of curious audio receptors range, he proceeded to explain the situation.

"In all the stellar cycles I've been here I never thought I would experience such situations. These domes have different security systems that prevents unauthorized activity." He informed. "It was quite a surprise that someone breached in without being noticed, and leaving barely no sign of their presence here."

"Iacon's Record Hall holds more than just information…" He continued on. "… It guards powerful ancient relics, some of them even belonged to the original thirteen. In wrong servos, it would be catastrophic."

"Is any of them missing?" Arcee inquired, hoping his answers would be negative.

"I'm afraid that our video records were rendered, so we cannot get a track of the domes they explored. Alpha Trion has been making inventory since we got to know someone was here. As far as I know, all relics are safely stored in their respective domes. What leads me to think they were not the objective." Orion added, signaling around. "Whoever breached in did not had interest in them. My guess is they were looking for something specific they very well knew it was here. Something they successfully managed to retrieve."

"So they actually managed to steal something." Jazz wondered.

"Indeed. They took away probably the most important archive of all." Orion frowned concerned, his voice tone turning deeper at the gravity of the situation. "The city codex." Arcee felt a wave of fear spread throughout her spark, as the situation was worse than what she had imagined. "I'm afraid is something of much importance to Iacon city. Our city's fate now rests on the servos of those whose intention are unclear. The intruder would only require few cycles to decipher the security measure before using it. We would be at their mercy and there would be nothing we could do to avoid it. If they get to decode it, they could wipe us out from the map with a single gesture, or worse."

A long silence was settled as the words of the young archivist sank into their processors, now aware of the danger Iacon was into. They descended thro an spiral stairs, which lead them downwards. By the time they were down, Arcee couldn't avoid thinking that the intruder must have been fit, as ground bridges were not allowed in the Hall. It was her who finally spoke again.

"Is there anything you could tell us about the intruder? Anything they could have left behind, any clue?" Orion took a moment to reply. She wasn't expecting to get anything, but for her surprise, his words gave her something to start with.

"I wasn't present when it occurred, though I found something unusual at the entrance of the dome where the codes were kept." He told them with precision. "It's a small mark, an inscription of some sort. It's almost invisible if you're not looking for it. Besides that I cannot tell much more." He lamented. "I wish I could do more."

"It's fine, Orion. You already helped us much." Arcee nodded in gratitude, resting a servo on his shoulder, comfortingly.

They finally reached the precise dome, and proceeded to examine it thoroughly. For their disappointment, they found nothing of use that could help clear the mystery. Whoever was there, they knew how to do the job. They were professional.

Jazz had a look at the chamber itself, taking few notes here and there, trying to draw conclusions. Meanwhile, Arcee searched for the mark Orion had previously described. She found it at the door frame, barely a palm over the ground. She proceeded to take pictures before studying it.

A simple symbol, not words, laid there. It was single stylish line, which presented sharp edges alongside one of the borders, resembling a deadly weapon that very well characterized the Seekers. It symbolized a dagger. It wasn't perfectly defined, yet she could assure it was it. Not everyone would have understood what it meant, but she did. It was some kind of signature, shamelessly announcing their presence there.

Arcee knew she could only find answers for that in one concrete place. Ultra Magnus' words came back to her mind. She knew she should not go there alone, but after the incident, she would never again put any other partner at risk. She would be the only responsible for it this time.

"Arcee, what you think?" Jazz got her out of her thoughts as he knelt by her side. He gave a look at the scratch and wrote a pair of things down in his data pad, listening to her.

"I don't know, Jazz. This is all confusing." She replied, not sharing her thoughts. "We should talk with what Alpha Trion and see what can he tell us. Then we should check the alt mode store." She concluded, standing up and beginning to walk away, Jazz after her.

The retraced all the way up until, they met the Hall guardian, the ancient archivist. He shortly resumed what happened, telling them he was at the other side of the building, taking care of some files at the library, when the robbery occurred. By the time he heard the alarm and got there, they had already ran away.

Arcee found it unusual that the alarm had sounded. If it had been Seekers that wouldn't have happened. Someone was making much effort trying to imitate them. They did care some details, but completely forgot about others. That made no sense.

"We will solve this." Arcee promised to Alpha Trion, seriously. "We will find a solution before they get a chance to attack us."

"This is bigger than what any of us had ever imagined." The old archivist had then spoken, wisely. Both Elite Guards looked at each other, not really understanding him as the elder mech continued. "But there's no bad action without a good result. You will have to go beyond your limits. Good luck in your mission."

They had finally thanked him for granting them some if his time, and exited the building.