EquinusPrime thanks for your comment. I can get carried away with "!" and it is something that I miss when I go over the chapters again. Thanks again for pointing that out for me. For Megatron's personality it is still early in the story, but do not worry you will see his true personality coming through in the next couple of chapters. For the society of Cybertron before the war breaks out there is noble families for both Autobots and Decepticons, and they are profiting from the slave labours of both Autobots and Decepticons. Again, it will become clearer in the chapters as it goes on. Again, thank you for your review.
Chapter 5: Ariel talks with Ratchet and Nightshade
"Ok, think like Orion Pax" Ariel said to herself as she sat down at her office desk. "I mean how hard can that be?" she asked herself. Activating the computer, the computer her optics quickly adjusted to the bright light that was coming from the computer's screen. She scrolled through all the contact details of all the businesses that they dealt with. Their business had seen an increase in cliental in the past few years. It had been a few years ago when Orion had joined the company. He was one of those Mechs who was easy to talk to and that was helping their business. That had helped their business to grow and attracted the attention of large businesses of Iacon and the other city-states of Cybertron.
Her optics quickly skimmed over the list of contacts that the business had collected over the years before and after Orion had joined the business. "Ok, it's not there. That is the business contacts, not our personal details. So, it wouldn't be there" she said to herself as she slumped down in her chair. Her blue optics narrowed as she stared at the computer screen before her. She changed the computer from looking for businesses in Cybertron to the personal details of all the docks employees.
She clicked on Orion Pax's name and then a very short list appeared before her. The list was of all the Mechs that Orion knew outside of work. Ariel scanned the list quickly. She knew all these Mechs. She and Orion had the same connections in Iacon, with a few odd contacts all over Cybertron. Her faceplates scrunched up when she saw who was on top of the list. Megatron: Residence at Gladiator Penthouse, Kaon. The Mech was alright, but he had moments when he lunged into fits of rage. The rages were never directed at Orion, which she was glad for. Of course, she was worried about the other Mechs who had to face Megatron's rage when it got the better of him.
How long will it take for Megatron to turn his anger onto Orion?
She hoped that he would be smart enough that when Megatron's famous temper turned towards him he would just walk away. She knew Orion. She knew him as well as she knew herself. She knew that he could be naïve and very trusting. She just hoped that when the time came, he would trust her more than Megatron.
The next name that she came across, was a known Mech to all Cybertron. Not in the same way that Megatron was. Ratchet: Head Medic of Iacon Hospital, Iacon. Ratchethad been friends with Orion since he was a young Youngling. He had said so himself on time they had been speaking about their pasts. Maybe he would know something about Orion's sister.
She pressed the button to make the call with Ratchet. As the call connected with the medic at the hospital, she made sure that she was presentable. A second later a white and red Mech with blue optics appeared on her screen. He looked angry and she did not know if it was directed at her or something that had happened in his ward in the hospital. He was one of the best medics in all of Cybertron, and that meant a lot of Cybertronians went to him.
"Who are you? And what idiot has done what this time?" Ratchet gruffly asked her. His optics were narrowed as he looked at Ariel through the screen.
Ariel vented air in through her vents as she gathered all her thoughts. She needed to get the gruff medic on her side. Once she got all her thoughts together, she began to explain why she was calling Ratchet out of the blue because of Orion. Before she explained to him why she was calling him from the company number about Orion he must have thought that something had gone wrong at the docks. That was common for the Energon docks. There was always a threat that there was a rouge spark caused by anything. There was also the threat of pirates who wanted to get an easy score of Energon to either keep or to sell it on for more credits. Now that he understood what was going on, he relaxed but he was still tense.
Ratchet had been silent all throughout Ariel explaining what was going on. He did not make even a hum or a grunt as he listened to what she was telling him. "Orion's Spark is always in the good place. In all the vorns that I have known him he has always believed that once you start something you have to finish it. Recently he has begun to see the corruption that is coming from all the noble families and the Prime himself. That's all after he started to read more datapads in the archive" Ratchet explained to Ariel.
"That is what I am afraid off now, Medic Ratchet! He's too stubborn for his own good!" Ariel cried to Ratchet. She sat back in her chair and gathered herself back up. She breathed in a large amount of air to calm herself down. Shuttering her optics for a second, she also used that to calm her down. Opening her optics up again she saw that Ratchet was watching her. He was sitting in his office and was waiting for her to continue "Because Orion is helping Megatron has painted a target on his back. No not just his back but mine as well. And I am just worried that he is going to get killed the next time that we are attacked!" Ariel told him.
Ratchet sighed on his side of the call. He then went silent as he thought over everything that was, he had been told by her. This silence lasted for a moment before he finally said what was on his mind. "And you think that you can have his sister talk him into stepping away from all of this before the both of you get hurt because of these thugs?" he asked her.
"Yes, that's exactly what I want to be done! I want to go back to the way things were before he met that Megatron!" she couldn't help but hiss out his name. Megatron meant well, for sure and she did support him. But it stopped when she and Orion were being threatened in their place of work. How long was it going to be until they were being attacked in their own home?
Ratchet rubbed his chin as his optics dimmed as he thought over what he had been told. "I have meet Orion's sister. I don't know where she is, all I know is that she is exploring the galaxy!" he explained to her.
"Do you know how to get in touch with her?" Ariel asked him.
Ratchet was silent for a moment. It was clear that he was thinking over what he should do. "Nightshade told me that she didn't want to be contacted at all! She said she needed to explore the galaxy to better understand who she is" he explained to her. He remembered that night when Orion and Nightshade had appeared at his door. The two of them had been arguing about something and needed a second opinion about it. He had listened and had agreed with her. A few hours later she was gone. That had been a few years ago that they had left.
Ariel stared at Ratchet. She had a name for Orion's sister. The sister he never talked about until he mentioned her. "Surely she will help knowing that there is a threat to his life?" she asked him.
"I do have the means to get in touch with her! But I will do the call! She does not trust Cybertronians that she does not know. It took her a good few vorns before she could and would trust me" he explained to Ariel.
Ariel was silent as she stared at the medic. He was gruff around the edges, but he really cared about Orion. What had happened in Orion's past that had allowed him to go into the care of one of the most respective Mechs in all Cybertron and to also meet the best Medic in all Cybertron? "Surely I can call Nightshade myself if I explain myself as to why I am calling her and who I am?" she asked him.
"She might answer, but she will be really cautious when talking to you! I think its best I get in touch with her and have her call you when she can" Ratchet told her. He saw she was about to argue with him. He raised his hand up to prevent her from saying anything. "That is final Ariel! It's the only way we can get in touch with her!" he told her.
Ariel was quick to relent. She was worried. She was worried about the rising threats that was coming to her and Orion because he was helping Megatron. There was also the rising crime that was spreading all throughout Cybertron. The Prime could argue all the time that Cybertron was in a Golden Age, but there was so many Cybertronians who were struggling. It did not matter if they were Autobot or Decepticons. They were not getting any help at all from the wealthy noblemechs and the Prime, himself. The Prime and his close friends were sitting comfortable in either the Towers or in the Palace of Iacon. "Fine!" she snapped back at Ratchet. "But I expect a call soon!" she said to Ratchet.
"I will see what I can do" he told her before cutting the line on his end.
Ariel looked at the dull screen of the computer before her. She decided that she was just going to stay in her office until either Ratchet or Nightshade called her back. This was going to be a long wait.
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Ariel woke up to the computer beeping for her attention. She came back online quickly to see that her computer was alerting her that someone was calling. The caller was an unknown caller to the system. That ruled out that Ratchet was calling her back. His contact details were saved into the company files. So, if he called the system would tell her. There was always a chance that it was a new client.
Sitting up in her chair she once again she made herself look presentable before accepting the call. The screen flickered and she came face to face with a creature that was not a Cybertronian.
Staring at her with red optics was a dragon. The dragon was gun-grey with blue symbols all over its body. Four silver horns grew from a silver ridge that was over the optics that glared back at her. The left optic was paler than the right, with a horrible scar running down from the eye socket down to the jaws. The jaws that had sharp saber-teeth interlocking with each other.
"Are you Ariel?" asked the dragon. Red optics narrowed as she studied the Femme before her.
"Are you Nightshade?" Ariel found herself asking the dragon.
Nightshade hissed through her teeth. Her optics narrowed in warning. That scar made the warning scarier than it should be for Ariel. "I will answer the questions! So, I will repeat mine; are you Ariel?" Nightshade snapped back to Ariel.
Ariel stared at Nightshade before she nodded her helm in response. She didn't trust her voice at the moment. "I'm good I got the correct details from Ratchet. I was surprised when he called out of a sudden and told me that Orion has been causing trouble back on Cybertron! I would never have thought that Orion Pax of all Mechs would be causing trouble on Cybertron!" Nightshade chuckled more to herself than to Ariel.
"I take it Medic Ratchet had told you what is happening here?" Ariel asked her.
Nightshade nodded her head in response. "He did. He told me that there is growing tensions on Cybertron and that the Prime is trying to cover it up. I was also informed that Orion is helping a gladiator who is brave enough to stand up against the system that has so many of Cybertron's struggle. It doesn't matter if they be Autobot or Decepticon" she explained to Ariel. Ratchet had told her what was happening on Cybertron, but she was still confused as to what she could do. She was lightyears away from Cybertron and if she were going to return to Cybertron it would take her some time to get back to it. It would not matter if she even used the Moonray, the fastest ship she had in her fleet. "Why have you contacted me? I do not see why I can be of help since Orion has made up his mind. What do you think I can do to help you when change is needed for a planet to move on? There will always be those who fight the new way because they are afraid of what the changes will bring. It is only natural!" she pointed out to Ariel. Those red optics narrowed as she studied Ariel from her side of the call.
Ariel was silent as she thought of what she was going to tell her. She had already told Ratchet what was happening with Orion and his friendship with Megatron. She had thought that Ratchet would have told Nightshade when he called her. Maybe he did tell her, and Nightshade just wanted to hear it coming from her herself. "Because I am afraid! I am afraid that after this meeting with the council tomorrow that Sentinel Prime will act against all of us! I am afraid that the Enforcers and thugs that he has been sending down to the docks where we work will turn violent rather than give us threats!" Ariel explained to Nightshade. She stopped to calm herself down. She shuttered her optics to also help her. Regaining her composure again she spoke again, "It's not just the Prime I am worried about. There is also the noblemechs of Autobot and Decepticon families who are happy with this way of life. They get so many credits and Energon for what they allow to happen to the other Cybertronians around the world. There is also the gang lords here in Iacon who also find profit in the system that the Prime is supporting"
Nightshade was silent and just stared at her. The red optics showed no emotion of whatever she was thinking. "So, the Prime says people can have freedom of speech, but once they enact that right he threatens them?" Nightshade asked her. She waited for Ariel to node her head before sighing. "Very well. I shall be back on Cybertron as soon as possible!" Nightshade told Ariel.
Ariel found herself opening her mouth, but Nightshade had already cut the call. Ariel found herself staring at the blank computer screen that was before her. The light from the computer did not bother her optics. She spend long hours in front of the computer a day in dealing with the company files that her optics had set to the correct settings with dealing with the computer all day. Then suddenly the computer screen light up as a message appeared before her.
"Contact me again if things get worse"