Hi all! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and the events therein.
Now then, let's see how Longarm Prime is going to help Blurr.
That might not turn out the way you want it, Blurr.
Blurr paced as Ratchet made the changes he'd dictated to the console. This had to work. He could not protect five sparklings on his own, and soon enough it would be five sparklings in truth, not just in form. Prowl had forgotten himself soon after Blurr had disobeyed orders, and Ratchet and Optimus Prime were sure they would forget too.
"Got it!" Ratchet announced as he slid out from under the console.
"Do you really think Longarm Prime will help us?" Optimus asked.
"He doesn't like Sentinel Prime, and tends to disagree with him on almost everything," Blurr replied. "And he's the one who told me not to listen to Sentinel about your team."
Optimus nodded at that, thought he looked surprised. Clearly, he expected most Autobots to believe Sentinel about him.
Blurr sighed and moved over to put his own code in the console. "Do you want to be in view?" he asked.
Optimus and Ratchet exchanged glances. "Only if he needs proof," Optimus finally said.
Blurr nodded and after they had both moved to where they could watch, but not be seen by anyone on the other side of the transmission, hit send.
It took a few minutes to connect, which they'd all expected. Longarm Prime came on the view screen, looking faintly surprised. "Agent Blurr, I didn't expect to hear from you while you were on Earth."
"Longarm Prime, sir," Blurr said. "There's been a change of circumstances that necessitated contact with the team here on Earth. Sentinel Prime won't listen to me, and the team needs help from Cybertron."
Longarm Prime looked startled for a moment, before he nodded gravely. "What's the situation, agent?" he asked.
Longarm Prime stared at the dark view screen for a long moment after Blurr signed off. It had been hard to believe his best agent, but when the Prime of Team Earth and their medic had stepped into camera view, he'd rather been forced to believe.
And now… what to do with the mess? He could, he supposed, do as he'd promised and report this to Autobot command, and scramble a rescue party.
If he did that, the sparklings would likely end up in the Science Division's hands, and who knows what would happen to them there. Longarm didn't want that to happen to any mech, Autobot or not. Or…
Longarm made sure his door was locked and secured, and then took a few moments to stretch. Agent Shockwave of the Decepticons flicked his tines and changed the settings on his view screen.
A few moments later, his Lord was on his screen. Megatron looked rather surprised to see him, but greeted him happily enough. After a few moments of pleasantries, Shockwave got down to business. "There is an opportunity, My Lord, for dealing with the Autobots that are on Earth."
Megatron looked intrigued. "Oh?" he asked.
"Yes, the bots there have run afoul of an Allspark shard and have… reverted."
"Reverted?"
"All of them are now sparklings, my lord. All of them are physically younger than the first upgrade, and they're slowly reverting mentally as well. An Autobot agent on Earth discovered the situation, and he would not lie to "Longarm Prime" or make this up. If you can capture the Autobots, we'd at least keep them away from the Autobot Science Division. If they were able to duplicate it, they'd turn all Decepticons into sparklings."
Megatron rumbled in thought. "Yes, that is true. Thank you, my loyal Shockwave, and good work. Is there anything you want me to do about the Autobot agent?"
"If you capture him, I would appreciate it if you kept him alive. He has valuable knowledge about the Autobot government, a useful ability, and I would like the opportunity to attempt to convert him to our cause."
"Very well," Megatron replied. "I make no promises, but I will not deliberately attempt to kill him."
They ended the call after that. Shockwave tilted his head before allowing himself to shrink back down. Longarm Prime smiled slightly before getting back to work. The head of Autobot Intelligence had work to do. The head of Decepticon Intelligence needed to make sure he wasn't suspected.
Megatron landed just outside the warehouse the Earth-bound Autobots called a base, two local days after Shockwave's call. Behind him, Lugnut and Blitzwing also landed. Megatron wasn't sure if he believed what Shockwave had told him. Oh, he knew Shockwave would never lie, but that didn't mean that the Autobots weren't somehow tricking him.
Megatron transformed and, mindful of the frailty of human construction, gently opened the large door. It was barely large enough for him to enter, but it would do. Once inside, he was able to fully straighten up.
There was no one in the large room and he looked around in curiosity. He'd only seen the place through spy drones. It was terribly… civilian. Considering what he'd learned of the Autobots that had given him such trouble, he wasn't surprised.
The door on the far side opened, and the tiny Sumdac femme poked her head out. She squeaked and slammed the door shut. Megatron allowed himself a smile.
"I heard the distress call, little femme. Where are your Autobot protectors?"
Faintly he heard the femme speaking to someone on the other side. A sparkling's high voice answered, then the voice of an adult mech, speaking very quickly.
Then he heard the sparkling, clearly. "That is an order, Agent Blurr," the sparkling said, with a note of command in its voice that no sparkling should have.
The door opened again and this time there was a… well, a blur, of something speeding past him. He heard his subordinates shout outside, but whatever that was, it got away.
Megatron refocused on the doorway. The femme was there, as was a small red and blue sparkling.
Megatron's jaw dropped. He hadn't really disbelieved Shockwave, but the sight of the Prime that had defeated him twice looking no older than a first stage sparkling was still shocking.
Megatron recovered quickly and slowly smiled at the Prime turned sparkling. "I assume this is something caused by this planet?" he purred.
The sparkling glared up at him. And, while before the Prime had enough strength and determination to make that glare at least not laughable, now it merely looked adorable.
"An Allspark shard, actually," the Prime finally said tartly. "And… I don't expect the Autobots to come in time to help us."
"I see," Megatron said. He considered. "Is it all of you?"
"I'm the only one that remembers being an adult."
Megatron tilted his head in thought. "If you tell me where you are keeping the Allspark shards, I will make sure you and your team are protected."
The Prime seemed to think about that a moment, before deflating. He nodded once.
Megatron smiled.
I hope you enjoyed that bit! "Longarm Prime" did get them the help they needed, but it's... not quite the help they wanted, shall we say.
Anyway, next week, I should still be able to post, though the 26th is going to be a busy day for me. I'll make time to post sometime, I promise. (If it doesn't happen on Sunday, I'll probably be able to post Monday evening, though)
But until then, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!
