Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Sentinel: This chapter seems very suspicious Authoress. You have been naming these segments in our lives in vague ways. I do not trust you.
Authoress: *smiles* You are only figuring this out now?
Sentinel: *nods* Unfortunately yes. However, I have no choice but to live it.
Trecke: Do not worry my leader love. The lovely Authoress will make sure our story is told with us in processor.
Fable: *smirks* Or we'll make her.
Chapter 9: Guardians
Trecke's 1st P.O.V.
A smirk came on my faceplate as I watched Fable train with my yellow love bug. So much had changed for our team, and how we were interacting with Team Orion since our arrival, that it was almost unbelievable. My yellow love bug hadn't always been such to me and had even wondered how he could respect my love's team. My dear Sentinel Prime's team. Now, he was here at least every other solar, if not every solar, to train with us. And he was serious about his training. He wanted to get better and listened to everything we told him to do on training.
Of course, my love bug's attention span when it came to his history lessons weren't as attentive. It was quite adorable to walk by the lesson to see Bumblebee had fallen into recharge when my love leader had been talking about the time before the golden age of Cybertron. I had stayed and watched as my love realized that my love bug was not conscious and laughed as Sentinel helm-slapped the bug awake...with his shield. You would think that the love bug would have learned his lesson.
When I walked by again about thirty clicks later, my love bug had been in recharge again.
Bumblebee coming to be trained with us did have a very unforeseen side-effect that we did not plan on. A few solars ago, we had an unexpected guest show herself during one of Bumblebee's combat sessions with my love and leader.
"What do you see my little love?" I asked the young techno-organic. The fact that she had been able to sneak into our base behind my love bug was impressive as it was, but to continue to move about the base unnoticed until we had paused the training with Bumblebee was incredible. So, I had not been surprised when my leader had agreed to let her come and watch Bumblebee if she would take training herself. Once she signed Fable's waver, she had agreed and, while we all worked with her, I worked with Fable and her to train her into becoming a tactical medic.
My little love watched as Bumblebee dodged Fable and kept his distance from the mech. While Bumblebee had improved greatly since that first training solar, he still had times when he would become nervous during a fight, and that was what Fable was working on with him. I was working with Sari in having her identify different moods on the battlefield.
"Bumblebee seems to be doing alright against the holograms when he can see where they are. But, when Fable jumps in from outside of 'Bee's view, he stumbles and opens himself up to an attack." She answered me before she focused again. "And Fable seems to be holding back when he does jump out. Of course, that is probably out of choice since he is training and not in a full battle situation."
"Is there anything else?" I pushed her. There was something that she wasn't taking into account that, even though it was small, could cause either of them to slip up.
At my encouragement, my little love started to look over the entire field and, after a few clicks, her optics widened. "Yeah, one of the soliforms hasn't come close to the two of them for a while and, from how they are moving, neither of them has noticed it."
"Very good my little love. You are improving." I congratulated her before I decided to point out something that I hadn't trained her to look for yet. "Now, if you watch Fable, you can see that right before he strikes, the right corner of his mouth twitches upwards slightly. It isn't a large tell, but it is one that could be used against him. If an enemy picked up on that quirk, then they would always be ready to block his strikes. It used to be worse when he first joined us, but now you have to be looking for it to find it. Being a tactician in the field, we need to keep a constant optic out for these kinds of tells, whether they exist in just one bot or the entire force."
"I'll keep an eye out for them," Sari responded to me with a nod.
Since we were out of the audio range of Bumblebee, now seemed like a prudent time to ask my little love about something that Fable had talked to her about. "Little love," She glanced up at me. "Have you given any thought about the procedure Fable mentioned to you?"
Immediately, I noticed her look away slightly when I questioned her on that. The procedure was an ancient one that was hidden for millennia. Fable had found the procedure, though he didn't say how he did, and he was completely positive he could perform it here on Earth without any problems. However, we all agreed that this was Sari's choice. I was only asking now to make sure that she was thinking about it. Fable could take no for an answer, that I knew. However, I just didn't want him to be blown off. That would be disrespecting our team and, for the honor of my leader's love, then I had to make sure that she was at least thinking about the proposal.
Finally, after a few clicks of silence, my little love nodded. "I have...I just don't know. It's a really big decision that I can't go back on once I agree to it. I just need time to think this through."
Giving her a comforting smile, I nodded. "Of course. Please take whatever time you need little love. I only asked to see if you were thinking about it."
At that, she gave me a quick response. "Of course I have been! It's been bouncing around in my head since Fable asked me about it during our one-on-one session the other solar. I've asked 'Bee's advice on it and I just need to get everything put in a line before I make any sort of decision."
I was going to say more when Fable and Bumblebee came out of the training room. "Good job this solar." Fable was speaking to Bumblebee as they walked closer. "I'll ask my caesar to set up some physical training to help with your resistance to hits. However, you have made some clear progress." He then smirked. "Oh, and I believe that, here in a few solars, I would like to perform another physical. I found your stingers and boosters quite fascinating." He, to my surprise, then frowned. "However, it is a pity that I can't remove helms without offlining bots. I would learn so much."
Yes, it was a good thing that specific dismemberment was impossible. Otherwise, I was sure that my love and leader would receive even more complaints about our medic. There were still bots on Cybertron sending our team complaints about Fable, even though the issues happened, mostly, before he joined our team.
"Why can't you?" I jumped when Sari asked that. Why the frag did she think that any being could have their helms removed and live through it?
"Sari!" Bumblebee suddenly hushed her with wide optics while he tried to grab her.
...Why did he look so worried? I thought that he would go right into saying how that was impossible for any species. However, a feeling of dread was slowly building up inside of me when he didn't say that as Sari flew away from him and landed on Fable's shoulder. As for my teammate, he had wide optics that were, for the first time since I knew him, completely shocked at what was happening.
"What do you mean Pip?" Fable questioned the techno-organic with a hopeful grin on his faceplate. Oh great, this was not going to go well. The techno-organic was going to have to say that it wasn't possible and then I was going to have to deal with a moody Fable before my love and leader,
"I mean, Headmaster took Bulkhead's and Elita's off and he's just a human. I figured that you all would be able to do that at least since he could." Bumblebee looked like he was going to have a spark attack while I felt every single bit of hope drain from my chassis. Some being...a human no less, had done to us what should be impossible.
At my little love's words, the sharp-denta grin grew to the most slag-eating grin that I had ever seen...and I was on a team with him. "And where would I find this marvelous test subject?"
"Jail. He broke a lot of human laws" Sari answered before her processor finally seemed to realize who she was telling all of this too.
However, it was too late. The damage had already been done. Fable looked like, if we didn't have a meeting with my love and leader soon, he would be making all speed to this jail and finding this 'Headmaster'. Finding out that there was a human that had Fable's capabilities was unnerving...especially since he could do something that Fable, up to this point, could not.
The stress that this was going to put on my beloved leader would not be good.
"Now go along back to your team you two." Fable suggested with that same smile on his face. "That's been enough training for the solar. You two need to rest as well as this training."
The two of us then stood there as my love bug and little bug walked toward the entrance of this base. Once they were out of sight, Fable and I started to make our way toward the communications room, where we were going to be having our meeting with my beloved leader.
While I knew that he was in a mood, and a good mood for him since he learned that unfortunate information from my little love, I knew that he needed to know what I found out. "Sari has been thinking about the procedure. She hasn't made a decision about it yet, but I thought you should know that she is thinking about it."
"Thank you," Fable responded to that. "However, Bumblebee spoke to me about it when we were getting ready for our session. He told me that Sari spoke to him about it. Honestly, that makes me glad. That means that she is taking serious thought to the procedure." He then smirked. "Oh, it will be so much fun to perform if she allows it. One of my best masterpieces yet."
A sigh slipped my vocals when I saw the shiver go up his backplates from the excitement. "You would find some macabre way to enjoy something that will benefit my little love."
"Yes, and our dear Sari has earned a favor from me, though I did not tell her. Finding out about this 'Headmaster' human has piqued my interest greatly." Fable spoke with that annoying grin. "I must plan a special trip to learn what I can from the human. The information I could gain from him could change everything!"
I rolled my optics. "Sadist."
"Socialite."
"Maniac."
"Vainglorious glitch."
"Butcher."
"Pleasurebot."
"Is there ever going to be a meeting that you two don't come to me fighting?"
I immediately focused as I saw that, indeed, Fable and I had arrived at the communications room during our bickering and made my dear love endure such hardships. "Oh my beloved leader, please forgive me for bickering in your presence."
"My leader, why did you wish for this meeting?" Fable directly asked. Brute.
Sentinel glanced between the two of us before he sighed.
Sentinel's 1st P.O.V.
I couldn't help but let a sigh escape at Fable's question. This meeting wasn't about them rubbing Optimus' team the wrong way, surprisingly given the time we had been on this planet. No, it was to be about a situation I knew that our team, willingly, brought upon ourselves. The fifteen missed calls and the subsequent fifteen messages that I had from Optimus told me that a situation I had known was coming up would happen.
"It's about Bumblebee and Sari," I finally answered Trecke's question.
Both my medic and my tactician threw each other worried looks. They were just for a nano but with them there, I knew that they had come to care for the duo of young bots. Fable had even asked me for permission to ask Sari if he could operate on her that he had dug up. Looking at the operation, I just made sure to stress that she needed to know all of the details. Fable had done that and I wasn't worried.
Anyways, both my tactician and my medic, over these solars, had become close with the two members of Team Orion. This was despite the hesitation that we all had with the scout when he first approached us. Of course, my teammates were not the only ones who were guilty of this. Despite the first meetings I had with the young bot, I found myself growing closer to him as we continued his lessons. Not to bring him on my team, though. Something was missing in the bug, something that he wouldn't ever be able to have, to give him that chance.
However, I did find myself counting him as an ally and friend. Not only that, but Sari Sumdac was proving to be heading in the same direction in my processor. She was quick-witted and willing to learn. Trecke was highly impressed with the techno-organic's potential, and Fable had made mention of her willingness to learn from him, despite his desire to dissect everything around him.
They must be worried about my condition when I agreed to let our team train Bumblebee. That I could end his training from our team at any time for whatever reason. However, that was not happening yet.
"What about them my love?" Trecke asked me hesitantly.
"Don't worry. We will still be training them. However, with the amount of time that they, especially Bumblebee, have spent being trained, I know that Optimus and Elita are going to confront us about it eventually."
"Then, my leader, what should we be expecting?" Fable spoke up.
I glanced between the two of them for a nano before I answered him. "Be prepared for Elita and Optimus, especially Optimus, to not listen to any sort of reason we might give. They are possessive of their team to the point of obsession. Don't use any physical response unless they do so first. I know we will have Bumblebee and Sari on our side but I doubt that will make much of a difference to them." I was tense about this situation, even with the advice I got from 'Stasi the other solar, and I just wanted it to go as painlessly as it could.
That didn't mean that somebot wasn't going to get out of this without a limb missing. The one time on Cybertron before we left was a pain enough to deal with.
"Strange," I glanced at Trecke in surprise when he suddenly spoke, "My love, I just received a message from Sari. She would like us at the warehouse. But, she doesn't say why. All my little love put was to be there."
That was strange. I knew that Trecke had been working with Sari to give as much information as possible to her allies that she trusted since they would need to be informed. And, I was sure that she saw us as her allies. However, this lack of information could mean that she didn't have a lot of time to tell us what was going on. The situation I was just discussing with my team came to the forefront of my processor and I knew we should go and make sure that the two had our support...if that was the case. "Tell her that we are on our way now and ask her if she can give us more details."
I then transformed, the other two following my lead, before I lead the way out of the base and toward the warehouse. This sort of confrontation was not something I was ready for but all I could do was hope that my team would be able to hold themselves back a little. While I didn't agree that I should force my team to be social with Optimus', I did agree that we needed as little tension as was possible when we fought the Decepticons. So far, we were able to hold our own. But, that could all change depending on how this went.
The drive to the warehouse went faster than I thought that it would and, soon, my team and I entered and I immediately took in the situation. Sari had said that she couldn't say anything because everybot was tense here. All of Team Orion was present and it looked like the room was on the verge of exploding.
Prowl was looking hesitantly at the scout and I could see that his chassis was tense, like he might have to strike out at his teammate to restrain him. Then, there was Bulkhead. He looked confused at Bumblebee and seemed to be trying to stay out of whatever was going on in here.
Ratchet and Arcee both looked tense, but I noticed that the old medic seemed to be staring between Bumblebee, Optimus, and Elita. It was like he was waiting to see the result of something my team must have just missed witnessing. Arcee looked like she was keeping an optic on Ratchet, to see how he was going to react to whatever was going on.
I noticed that Sari was standing on the back of the couch, well enough away to avoid getting injured should a fight break out but close enough to observe what was going on. It didn't escape my notice that she was mostly studying Optimus and Elita, seemingly waiting for them to make a move.
Then, there were the three who were the focus of all the attention. Bumblebee looked angered and determined. I'm not sure what Optimus and Elita did to put the scout in that state but the mech looked like he was barely holding back from lunging at the two Primes. Maybe Fable and Trecke were spending too much time with the Scout.
Optimus looked furious and ready to lecture the scout about something. I might have broken contact with the two Primes in front of me, but I still remembered how to read the two of them. While Optimus looked ready to yell at the scout, Elita looked much like Bumblebee did; ready to attack given any opportunity to do so. Bumblebee must have said something. While it might not have been the scout's fault, whatever was going on here, I did know that the mech we were training did have a big mouth.
I had given the bug many helm-slaps in response to his mouth getting ahead of his processor.
"My my, what is happening here my loves?" Fable asked, though we already somewhat knew thanks to the information Sari was able to send to Trecke on the way here.
Instead of blowing him off, like I thought he would, Optimus turned to us and said, "Sentinel, what are you three doing here?"
"My love, Fable, and I are allowed to visit here, just as you are allowed to come to the base. We are all Autobots here." Trecke cooly responded without giving away that Sari had been the one to contact us.
Optimus shot a glare at Trecke, causing an audible growl to come from me and a growl that was on the verge of a snarl to come from Fable. Optimus had better watch what he said or this was going to get ugly fast. I did not hesitate to defend my team and I knew that they were of the same processor.
"Maybe you can answer something for us Sentinel?" Elita lightly growled as she looked between my team and Bumblebee, who looked like he was calming down slightly. "Why has Bumblebee been spending so much time away from our team, and coincidentally at the same time that your team just so happens to not be here?"
Some of the tension left me and my team as she asked that. This was it? I mean, I knew that this situation was going to come, but that was all that they had pieced together? That we were just gone at the same time? Also, I noted that they hadn't mentioned Sari's recent absences yet. Were they saving them for later or did they not connect the two situations? If that was the case, then Optimus and Elita had been slacking more than I thought that they had been.
While they really should have to work for the answer, I knew that we needed to keep tensions as low as we could with Decepticons on the planet. So, I decided to give them the answer that they were looking for, even if I knew that they were not going to like hearing it. "To be simple? We have been training Bumblebee for several solars, per his request, to help him improve his skills as a scout."
"You had no right to do that Sentinel." Optimus had the nerve to growl at me. "Bumblebee is a part of our team and we train our own."
"Not if my love bug asked us to train him." Trecke pointed out to Optimus and Elita with a glare. His visor, like it did whenever he was angry, seemed to change color a few shades darker as he spoke those words.
"We give our team all the training they could need." I held back the want to roll my optics when Elita said that. "Sure, Megatron and his top lieutenants may be here but we've fought them before. Our training is just where it needs to be at to fight them. It's your team that has been holding us back."
It didn't escape my notice that she overlooked how Bumblebee asked us to train him, and not us asking to train the bug. "Elita, Boss Bot; I asked them to help me,"
"Not now Bumblebee, we'll talk more about this later," Optimus tried to silence Bumblebee. With how he sounded, it seemed more like a sire disciplining a young youngling instead of a leader speaking to a teammate who is supposed to be his equal. If I tried that with either of my teammates, then I would be offline before I could shutter my optics.
Of course, the scout had been spending a large amount of time with my team and, from his posture, he wasn't ready to stand down yet. "No Boss Bot, we are talking about this right now. I asked them to help me because,"
"Optimus said not now Bumblebee, now stand down," Elita vocally lashed out at their young scout. Before Bumblebee could even try and speak against her, she rounded on me. "And you, you and your team are going to stop monopolizing Bumblebee's time. He is our teammate and you will not make him come train with you anymore." I noticed that the old medic was shaking his helm as she said that. From the annoyed look on his faceplate, he seemed to realize that we were helping the young scout, and trying to take that away would not do anybot any good.
At least more than just the scout had a processor among Team Orion.
Since I could see that Trecke and Fable were just one word from tearing into Optimus and Elita, physically, I knew that I needed to pull my team out and quickly. That is if I wanted any hope of us cooperating on the battlefield if the Decepticons attacked. And, as much as I wanted to go against Elita and Optimus for what happened in the past, the present was too pressing to deal with that now.
"Optimus, Elita;" The room seemed to go still when I spoke. It was unnerving and I could tell that, if I didn't choose my words carefully, I would start a slag-storm that would put even more tension between our two teams. "My team and I will leave here for the night solar. However, you must remember that your teammates...all of them, are legally capable of making their own choices and pursuing what they believe is in their best interest. My team has only done what was asked of us on the account of Bumblebee's training." I then moved my gaze to the yellow scout. "And we shall continue to train him under the terms of our agreement as long as he wishes. Despite your coddling nature toward your team, especially your younger teammates, they can make their own decisions and I will recognize those decisions made by them, even though you do not." I then turned to lead my team back to the base. "You all have a pleasant night cycle." That last part was said in hopes that we could end the solar on a neutral note. However, the strained nature behind the words was most likely picked up and I doubted that they missed it.
Before another word could be said by Team Orion, I transformed into my vehicle mode before leading my team back to the base. The solar had been a long one and I hoped to relax for the rest of the night cycle. Tomorrow evening, my team had plans to visit with 'Stasi before we went to the laser tag arena again to meet up with Lizzie, Evan, and Tim. I needed to get a few cycles of recharge to be ready for that.
Plus, after the slag-storm we barely avoided at the warehouse, I knew that our future interactions with the rest of Team Orion were going to put even more stress on our living situation. While Trecke and Fable had done an amazing job at holding back their urges around Team Orion, they had already gone further than I could have hoped and I couldn't ask any more restraint from them should Team Orion try something.
A lesson that the Guardians had taught me well when Trecke and I used to train at their facility was that respect on a team had to go both ways, or the team would collapse. Fable and Trecke had respected the situation between Optimus, Elita, and myself to hold back for this long, and now it was my turn to respect their loyalty and support them should they wish to strike back at Team Orion should another incident like earlier happen again.
But slag, I knew that the paperwork for what would happen would offline me long before another bot would get the chance.
Megatron's 1st P.O.V.
"We will be launching the attack tomorrow in the mid-early cycles of the solar," I spoke as I laid out my plan for the attack next solar against the Autobots. While the yellow scout was basically out of our sights for our plans with phase one, given how he was acting and the seeming disassociation between all fo the members of his team, we need to see just how far the split between the two teams runs.
"Megatron," I turned to Shockwave as he started to speak. "I noticed that, in your plan, you have us separating Team Orion from Team Apocalypse."
I nodded at his observation. "Yes, that is my plan. We know that Team Apocalypse works together on the battlefield very efficiently. We need to separate them from Team Orion to test the strain that seems to exist between their teams. If Sentinel Prime's team does not arrive to assist the team of the other two Primes then I do not doubt that there will be friction built up between the two teams."
Instead of looking like he agreed with my plan, my intelligence officer looked hesitant. There must be a factor that I was missing that he had noticed. Whether it was more important than my plan to keep the two teams apart remained to be seen.
Instead of Shockwave answering me, though, Bliitzwing took over. "Zhe team vith Fable on it seems to focus on keeping our battles away from Earth's civilians."
"Not only that," Shockwave took back over, "But they also focus on keeping damage to a minimum in general. If we take Sentinel Prime's team out of the main fight, then we could have to focus on creating less damage. I know that one of your side-goals on Earth is to show the governments of Earth that you have changed and agree to help us in our fight against the Autobots. That would not be helped if we were to create more damages."
Two very good arguments against that portion of the plan, and I agreed. This mission on Earth had many facets to it and I needed to remember to keep them all in line if I was going to be succeeding. Converting Autobots to our cause, while important, was not our only goal. We needed to earn the trust of humanity and show them why we should be their allies over the Autobots. Growing careless in that fact just to gain more allies from the Autobots would not benefit my Decepticons further in time.
"You are both right. So, we will need to keep Team Apocalypse in the battle yet make sure that they will not interfere. That will be a challenge but we will have to manage. Pressing the rift between the two Autobot teams will be paramount to discovering more about the tension between the three Prime's and giving us an opening to acquire one of their members for phase one." I adjusted my plan that was in front of them.
Starscream nodded. "Yes. From our previous fights here on Earth, it seems that Team Apocalypse has been late to the fights before. So, we will have to hold back until their arrival. While the yellow scout seems to be improving his skills, the rest can not be said for the other members of Team Orion. If we press too hard too quickly, then they will fall apart before Team Apocalypse can arrive on the scene. IF they do, then we will be put in a strange situation where we will have to either act even weaker to let their team recover or we will have to take them all prisoner, which is what we have been avoiding. From experience, we know that Autobots will stay in their one-processor thinking more firmly if other Autobots are being held."
That was true. So, we were going to have to hold back quite a bit to wait for the arrival of Team Apocalypse to test the strain between them. While I was not exactly thrilled at the idea of holding back so much, I knew that it was necessary given the other factors in our plan. "That is a good point."
I needed to find out more about Team Apocalypse and testing this strain between the two Autobot teams was a way that I knew I would be able to accomplish this. They weren't popular enough on Cybertron to have much about them in official records though they were well known enough that even Strika had heard tales of their capabilities before and she was impressed by them. Not the easiest thing to do with that femme.
Now, however, I would just have to wait for tomorrow. That battle would hopefully give me insight into this strange team that would help me decide how to move phase one further along. Gaining allies from the Autobots would be crucial if I was to fulfill my promise to my Decepticons and return them home to Cybertron.
Unknown 1st P.O.V.
I sighed as I glanced out of my window. When I first saw him standing in front of me, I knew who he was. I didn't even have to hear him speak. Just his presence alone told me. It was him. After all of these stellars, it was him. He deserved to know who I was. After everything that he had done for me, he had earned that much and so much more.
Tomorrow.
That would be the time. Although I wasn't sure how he was going to react, I knew that tomorrow would be the best time to tell him. To tell him exactly who I was. I already knew that I was going to be seeing him since I had plans with him and his team. That would be the best time.
I only hope that he will understand.
Megatron: It seems you are moving closer to some action Authoress. I hope for your sake that things go well. My Decepticons have been working too hard toward victory for you to blunder in and ruin things.
Authoress: *smiles* I always make sure that things turn out for the best Megatron, no matter what it may seem to be like. *walks out*
Megatron: *stares after Authoress*
Starscream: *frowns* That doesn't mean she won't make us fail Megatron.
Megatron: *angrily* What?! *runs out of room* Authoress!
*screaming in the halls*
Starscream: *sighs* I shouldn't have gotten up this solar. *goes to stop Megatron from killing Authoress*
AN: And here is the next chapter of this story! I hope you all enjoyed this! I know it is a filler but there are some important details in there as well as some foreshadowing for upcoming chapters. That is especially in the case of the final point of view.
However, before we get to that, I need to talk about everything that happened before that. First, we get Trecke's point of view and we learn that Sari is considering some sort of procedure that Fable would preform. However, she is hesitant about it and is thinking about it. Whatever it is it will change her life. Also, we get to have some fun with Fable learning about the existence of Headmaster and what the human can do for him once they meet. *evil laughter*
Then, we move to Sentinel's point of view and a confrontation between the two teams happens again. Of course, it is started by Bumblebee but Team Apocalypse stands their ground on the fact that they will be training Bumblebee (and Sari).
After that, we move to the Decepticons and Megatron realizes how important, for now, having Team Apocalypse at a fight is to their plans in the future. So, they will have to have them at the fights for the time being. I wonder if they will be able to accomplish this?
Lastly, of course, we deal with that unknown point of view? Do you all know who it is? I wonder if you do? It seems like whoever this is isn't telling someone (or somebot) something important. We will find out later of course but I hope curiosity is eating at you now. =)
Alright, that is all the overview for now. Here are the names of the next chapters!
Chapter 10: Hidden in Plain Sight
Chapter 11: Laying Demons to Rest
Chapter 12: ...(find out next time!)
And that is all for now! A Merry Christmas to all of you and I hope you enjoy it! I will be relaxing. I started a job before Thanksgiving and I have been swamped with it. Well, enough from me. TTYL! *wonders if will see Santa tonight*
