Chromia tapped one pede restlessly on the floor, waiting.
Moonracer burst into the room. "What the frag is going on? Did you feel that?"
Chromia nodded.
"What—"
"I don't know," Chromia snapped. "How should I know?" Something weird had happened over the bond. Elita was pretty far away, so it was hard to figure out what, but it was something, and it hadn't exactly felt good.
"Did something happen to Elita?"
"Well, she's not answering her comm. so I can't really tell you," Chromia said. It was frustrating that she couldn't tell if Elita was all right—if she was conscious, if she was hurt—sibling bonds got significantly weaker with distance, and they weren't nearly as strong as spark bonds to begin with.
"She's not answering her comm?" Moonracer said. "That's not good. Do you think this has something to do with whatever secret she's keeping from us? Or do you think something happened to her in Simfur? They could have… I don't know. They're really close to Kaon there."
"I don't know," Chromia said. "She's alive, at the very least."
Come on, Ellie, answer your comm…
"I mean, it didn't really feel like she was being attacked or anything."
Chromia shook her helm.
"I bet it's whatever she wasn't telling us. Something really weird is going on 'Yes, I'm just going to go to Simfur right after we have a battle, don't worry about it, I can't explain until I get back.' She had better have a really good—"
"Shh," Chromia said as Elita finally answered her comm.
Moonracer fell silent, crossing her arms in a tense sort of way. "Is she—"
"Hey, Ellie," Chromia said.
"Good orn,"
"You mind telling us what the frag just happened?"
"Calm down," Elita said. "Everything's fine."
"Don't give me that slag," Chromia said. "What did you do?"
There was silence on the other end for a moment, then she heard Elita sigh. "Look, I will explain when—"
"No. Explain now," Chromia said.
"It's not safe to talk about it over the comm…"
"What did you do? It felt like something was happening to your spark."
"Like I said," Elita's tone didn't suggest that anything terrible had happened. In fact, she seemed a little too cheerful. "Everything is fine and I will explain as soon as I get home. I promise."
The comm. line went dead.
"So…" Moonracer said.
"Well, she's not dead, and probably not in trouble," Chromia said. "Not yet, at least."
"Let me guess, she said she'd tell us when she got back."
"Yeah," Chromia narrowed her optics. Elita wasn't one to keep secrets from her sisters often, and when she did it was usually because she thought they wouldn't approve for some reason. She'd been acting different lately too… something was definitely off about this whole situation.
"You want to go hunt her down?"
"Nah," Chromia said. "We've got work to do. And whatever's going on with her, we'll get it out of her when she comes back. Just wait."
Halogen listened to the mecha around him arguing.
These mecha of his were losing their edge. They squabbled and fought and proposed ways to undermine the Prime. The loss of the Institute had been a severe blow to the Council's confidence, and though they'd managed to cover it up, that didn't help with their public image.
Furthermore, while the Prime's army had miraculously rebuffed the attack on Slaughter City, the Prime's popularity was decreasing as well. Some of the Councilmechs had started arguing for siding with Megatron.
Halogen's secretary entered the room, and the mech who'd been talking fell silent.
"What is it?" Halogen snapped.
"Lord Halogen, Alpha Trion has sent a message," his secretary said, holding up a datapad. A murmur filled the room. Halogen waited until it died down.
"Read it."
They hadn't seen or heard from Trion for more than a decaorn.
The secretary held up the datapad.
"Members of the Iacon Council," he read. "I regret to inform you that I am officially resigning. Other business has become more pressing, and I can no longer sit on the Council with you. However, I would like to leave you with a few last words of advice. Optimus Prime is not your enemy, and never has been. If you support him, ally with him, and follow his leadership, he will win this war and spare your lives. On the other hand, if you allow Megatron to win, then you will all offline. I suggest you take action accordingly. When the time is right, your duty will be to present him the key to Vector Sigma. If you fail to do that, then the world will certainly fall under Megatron's control. I know that you are aware of that, but I thought I'd send you one final reminder. Good luck, Halogen. You were…" the secretary hesitated, then continued. "…a good mech once, and as betrayed as I feel by your actions of the past thirty vorns, I still look back fondly on the time when we were friends. -Alpha Trion."
"Fool," a Councilmech said. "Without his presence and influence, we have no one to hold us back."
Alpha Trion was no fool.
The Council was already on the brink of internal collapse. Halogen was losing control of them. Alpha Trion's presence was a stabilizing influence. Now that he had bailed… others might follow. Some were afraid—some felt the weakening of the Council's power and thought it was pointless to try to regain their authority.
Halogen himself questioned every once in a while. The power had shifted.
He wondered whether he should push for taking Trion's advice. If they put their full support behind Optimus Prime, what would happen? Would it unify the Council? Would they be able to end the war quickly enough?
No. Alpha Trion was looking out for his own interests just like any other Councilmech. He wanted them serving under his pet Prime so that he could continue to influence and control them. He had left the Council in order to push them toward collapse—in order to make them desperate.
Arguments broke out. Halogen remained silent, thinking. He didn't know what to do—his superiors hadn't spoken to him at all since he'd lost the Institute. They were probably angry, but if they didn't give him instructions, then how could he help them accomplish their plans?
He was on his own, and everything was falling apart. He needed to get his mecha back under control without giving in to any outside forces. They needed to be focused. They needed a plan, a direction of some sort.
"Silence!" he said.
The Council floor quieted.
"You are squabbling sparklings," Halogen said. "We must not lose sight of who we are and what our purpose is. Perhaps our political power is waning, but that doesn't change us. We ruled this city once, and we will rule it again. Alpha Trion has provided us with a means."
They all looked at him.
He pulled something out of a secret compartment in his side and held it up for all of them to see. "The key to Vector Sigma. As the location of the Matrix of Leadership has been forgotten, Optimus Prime needs this to receive the knowledge of the Primes and find the Matrix. There is no other way."
"We have discussed this before," a senator stood. "Halogen, we can threaten to withhold it from him, but he will know it's an empty threat. We must give it to him."
"We are doomed if we do, we are doomed if we don't," Halogen said. "We ought to give it to him, yes, but we can ask a price for it. I need all of your processors. We are a Council. Let us work together and figure out a way to hold onto the power we have, using this key as a bargaining tool."
The last of his memories dwindled into nothingness.
Orion un-shuttered his optics.
"Well?" Yoketron said.
Orion shook his helm. "Not that time. But it was easier. Maybe once more."
He glanced at Elita, who stood by the side of the room, feeling concerned and upset—almost angry. He smiled and tried to send reassurance over the bond. He knew she could tell the trial was painful for him. She'd taken things very well when he had first explained it, but she'd seemed a lot more upset after he'd attempted the trial. Now, after his third attempt, he could tell she was on the verge of openly protesting.
He could still feel the bond in the trial and it was—though he wouldn't admit it—actually somewhat distracting. It did provide extra incentive to finish the trial, though, because he didn't want her to have to vicariously feel his pain any longer.
"How many times do you normally do this?" she asked.
"Nothing in the trial is supposed to linger afterward," Yoketron said. "But… the second time Orion attempted the trial, something went wrong and now it gives him a processor ache. I haven't normally been letting him attempt it more than once an orn, but I want him to finish it if he can before we return to Iacon, so we're making an exception."
Elita frowned.
"Orion?" Yoketron said. "How is your helm?"
"It's not bad," Orion said. There were plenty of times it had been worse, even after completing the trial only once. "And… I think I can do it. One more attempt."
Yoketron nodded. "One more."
Elita came over and sat by him on the floor. "Can I sit here?" she asked.
"Of course," Yoketron said as he stood and walked around behind Orion. Orion shuttered his optics and took Elita's hand in his.
One more time. He just had to let go and it would be over.
The trial began.
[Memory Erase initiated. Beginning in five... four… three… two…one…]
Orion could still feel the bond, which helped ground him in reality, but also made it easy to lose focus. He realized, though, as his early memories began to disappear, that even when he had lost everything else, he would still be able to feel it. He clung to that idea, focusing on the bond so he didn't have to fight his own instincts, or the memory wipe. This was just a simulation, but the bond was real.
His memories disappeared, taking with them his entire life. He focused on Elita, on the comfort of her spark. Even though he couldn't feel her hand in his anymore, he could still feel her near through the bond. Re-forging that bond was one of the last things he'd forget. That was one of the things that had snagged him the past few times. He'd focused on that memory and let everything else go, but then he hadn't wanted to forget that.
He'd have to let it go too this time.
Everything he'd ever done.
All the mecha he'd ever met.
All of his successes.
His failures.
His friends.
He let them go. It would be all right, he told himself, because he wasn't alone.
In this simulation, he would have to let go of Elita too, but it was just a simulation, and when he was finished, she would be there.
Oblivion caught up to him.
And then in the oblivion, Alpha Trion's voice spoke.
"You have completed the trial. You may proceed."
Orion un-shuttered his optics.
"Orion?"
"I did it," he said, then looked down.
"Is everything all right?" Yoketron asked.
"Yes," Orion said. "Just… Alpha Trion's probably not going to be happy about the bond."
"There's an obvious solution to that," Yoketron said. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And didn't we just prove it won't prevent you from completing the trials?"
Orion nodded. It probably wouldn't come up—he didn't have to visit Alpha Trion any time soon, but… "I don't feel right hiding it from him."
"Then I'll tell him," Yoketron said. "Don't worry about it. Well, Elita, thank you for being here. I'm sure you have things you need to do."
"What's the next trial?" Elita asked.
"Ah," Yoketron said. "That one's a little different. We can't start that one yet—you only get one attempt."
That didn't sound good.
"Well, you only need one attempt, since you stay in the trial until you succeed, but it takes some mecha decaorns to complete it… so you'll need to plan some time off in the future. For now, I believe you have a battle to clean up from."
"We're going back now?" Orion asked.
"Elita goes back now. We go next orn," Yoketron said. "It wouldn't be good to show up at the same time. We can stay here the rest of the on-cycle, then leave the city under the cover of darkness. Then no one will know you were here, Orion."
Orion almost argued, but decided it wouldn't do any good.
"I do need to go," Elita said. She smiled at him. "I think my sisters are anxious for me to explain to them why I was in Simfur."
Orion nodded. "Yes. We should tell them. I believe it would be reasonable to let Ironhide in on the secret as well."
"You'll need a medic, too," Yoketron said. "Some scanners can detect bonds, and so you'll want someone you trust working on you if you're ever injured."
"I'll tell Chromia she can tell Ironhide," Elita said. "And I suppose you can tell Ratchet once you get back. Is there anyone else?"
"Prowl knows already," Yoketron said. "I would advise against telling anyone you haven't already listed."
Elita nodded. "All right. I'll see you soon."
Orion watched her leave, then vented a sigh. He still wasn't entirely sure this had been the right thing to do. But he felt much better than he had before. The only worry was that it wasn't going to last.
"While you're still here," Yoketron said. "We can train. You've been falling behind on that."
Orion nodded.
"How are things progressing?"
Shockwave looked up as Megatron approached. "Not as quickly as I wish," he said. "I have been able to complete the process of shadowplay for most of those who had finished the stages. However, the equipment necessary for continuing the first part of the procedure was lost when we left the Institute."
"I gave you permission to go ahead with any other projects that you felt would help the Decepticon cause. What are you working on?"
Shockwave nodded. "Before the Institute, I knew a mech who was working on a way to contain and make use of spark energy. I am attempting to recreate his research. This would allow me to make powerful weapons and would certainly open up other possibilities as well. I'm also hoping to find more effective methods to affect core programming. It is not logical to assume that Shadowplay is the most efficient."
Megatron frowned. He wasn't an expert, but he'd heard that tampering with core programming was almost always fatal. And he didn't really need more brainwashed mecha. "I'm much more interested in the weapons," he said. "How soon do you think you can finish this research you spoke of?"
"Soon," Shockwave said. "Though I have made less headway on the problem than I expected to. In order to complete it, I must also find a way to efficiently collect spark energy."
"Wouldn't collecting spark energy from someone offline them?"
"Yes," Shockwave said. "But if I can find a way to collect without killing the donor, we will have a sustainable source."
"Are you still pulling test subjects from the mines?"
"Yes."
"The mines aren't producing enough that we can lose miners. Next time you need more mecha, let me know, and we'll get you some from somewhere else."
Shockwave nodded.
Ratchet looked up from his desk as Orion came in, followed by Ironhide, and Elita and her sisters.
"I see you're back," he said, scowling as he got up and started sorting the datapads and tools on his desk. Orion had disappeared shortly after the battle. According to Prowl, he'd gone on some sort of 'training retreat' without telling anyone first. "I don't know why you brought a crowd with you," Ratchet said. "But they won't save you." He glared. "I can't believe you ran off without telling anyone and left that stuck-up Praxian in charge."
"I apologize for leaving on such short notice," Orion said.
"Hmph," Ratchet said. "So what are you doing here?"
"For one," Orion said. "I hear they've started issuing the insignias, and I would like to set an example for all of our soldiers."
Ratchet nodded and jerked his helm toward the empty berth in his office. "Sit down."
Orion sat on the berth as Ratchet pulled a thin patch of metal from subspace. He turned the Prime's pain receptors down and then started carefully welding the insignia to Orion's shoulder. "You look better-rested, at least," Ratchet said. "Did you really go with Master Yoketron on some sort of training trip?"
Silence fell. Ratchet glanced up at him to see him staring across the room at Elita, who was looking back with wide-opticed concern.
"Not that you'd tell me," Ratchet finished welding the insignia to Orion's shoulder, and walked around to the other side, unsubspacing another one. "If it's some sort of big secret."
"Well…" Orion said.
"Wait," Elita cut in.
Everyone looked at her.
"Wait until he's finished with the insignias," she said. "And isn't holding a welding torch."
Ratchet turned slowly to face Orion again, narrowing his optics. "What exactly did you do?"
Orion looked intimidated, and a little guilty.
"Are you injured?"
"No," he said.
"But you did something stupid."
"Just finish the insignia, medic," Chromia snapped. "I'm not sure how I feel about this myself. But no one's in immediate danger."
Ratchet glared at her, but welded the insignia to Orion's shoulder anyway. "Right," he said when he was done. He very pointedly shifted his hand back to normal. "Now what is it you're going to tell me?"
"I did go with Master Yoketron," Orion said. "We went to Simfur."
Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "And?"
"Well, we met up with Elita there, and… the Allspark was able to heal our bond."
Silence fell. Ratchet stared at him, trying to work through the ramifications of that. He hadn't known the Allspark could do that sort of thing, but he did know that the bond had broken for a reason. How exactly would you go about repairing it when Orion and Elita's sparks were no longer compatible?
"How?" he demanded.
"It's the Allspark," Ironhide put in. "It can probably do whatever it wants."
Ratchet shook his helm, narrowing his optics. "Hmph. That's impossible."
"Well..." Orion said, then smiled at Elita.
"I didn't think the Allspark could do that sort of thing," Ratchet said. "Whose idea was this?"
Orion shrugged. "Master Yoketron's. He was fairly sure it would work…"
"Fairly sure?" Ratchet said. "Fairly sure?"
"Mostly sure?" Orion looked nervous now.
"Lie down on that berth," Ratchet said. "Now! Elita, over there."
Orion lay down and watched as Ratchet dragged some machinery over and Elita went obediently to the other berth.
Orion could tell she wasn't particularly nervous, but he was concerned now, since Ratchet wasn't taking it very well. If they told the medic everything—like the fact that they might need to break the bond again in the future—he would be furious.
"I'm going to scan you to see the bond," Ratchet said. "Re-formed bonds are often unstable. But in your case…" his voice was tight, as if he were just barely holding back some yelling. "…I also need to check all of your other systems. Pretty sure it would work… what if you had offlined! What if it had damaged your sparks? You can't go getting yourselves hurt in ways I don't know how to fix." He kept muttering to himself as he worked. He did what seemed like an unreasonable number of different kinds of scans on Orion and Elita. Eventually, though, he went over to the computer at the side of the room and told them they could get up. Orion sat, but didn't get off of the berth. Elita, on the other hand, stood and came over to sit next to him. He could feel her spark pulsing in sync with his.
Every time she got close, he remembered how much he had missed that. He smiled as she set her hand down elegantly on top of his.
"You know, you can't be doing that sort of thing in public," Chromia said. "We have to keep this a secret. Ratchet did you hear that?"
"Yes," Ratchet said, still focusing on the computer screen.
Elita leaned her helm on Orion's shoulder. "We're not in public," she said.
Chromia glared at her.
Elita sighed and sat up straight. Orion felt her happiness fade a little. "I know," she said. "We're in more danger because of this… but it's worth it. Surely you can understand that."
The two sisters stared each other down for a few astroseconds, and then Chromia lowered her gaze. "Yes." She said, then looked at Ironhide. "I'm still not pleased though," she turned again and met Orion's optics. "Because not only did you hurt my sister, now you've put her in danger again."
"No," Elita said. "This was my choice. You know it's not his fault."
Chromia didn't answer.
Ratchet returned from the computer, looking angry still, and also a little concerned.
"Well?" Moonracer said. "Are they okay?" She sounded eager. Orion wouldn't be surprised if she was much happier about this development than Chromia was.
"Their bond is stable," Ratchet said with a scowl. "But it's about two and a half times as strong as it ought to be."
Silence fell.
"You make that sound like a bad thing," Moonracer said. "Isn't that good?"
"No," Ratchet said. "Because now, if one of you offlines, the other one will almost certainly follow."
Orion tensed, though Elita didn't react.
"And there would be no way to prevent it either, because I doubt that either of you would even be capable of breaking the bond."
This had been a terrible mistake. If he died so would she. There was no way to stop it. And they wouldn't be able to break the bond before he visited Vector Sigma. That could kill her too.
Elita was annoyed at him, probably for being so upset.
"I'm not sure how but everything else seems normal, fortunately." Ratchet said, still glaring at Orion. "By the Allspark... that was a stupid thing to do! Was that really worth the safety of the entire world? We can't lose you, Orion. Now it's at least twice as likely that you'll offline. And if someone kills you, it's guaranteed to kill Elita too. Is a bond really worth that?"
"Leave him alone," Elita said, angry now.
Ratchet turned his glare on her.
"I made this decision. Orion was hesitant, but I wasn't. This was my choice. There has always been danger, and there will always be danger. Two sparks are better than one. I am not a burden, I am a support. And I will always be here to support Orion, as long as he needs me." She got up off the berth and took a step toward Ratchet, who backed away. "And if you want to yell at my spark-mate, you're going to have to shout me down first!"
Silence fell.
"You're still fools," Ratchet said quietly, but turned away. "But you aren't injured or sick, so get out of my office. And make sure to keep this a secret. The danger increases if more mecha find out. And Primus help us if Megatron learns about this."
"Yeah," Chromia said. "That wouldn't be good. I propose we don't even talk about this among ourselves, even when we think no one can hear."
Orion nodded. "I agree with that."
"And we can't treat Ellie any differently, either," Moonracer said. "We don't want anyone to think she's more important than anyone else. If Chromia and I go fight, Ellie should be allowed to come with."
"That's out of the question," Ratchet said.
"No, I think Moonracer's right," Ironhide said. "Probably aren't sending you femmes out onto the battlefield any time soon, but you should keep training, Elita. In fact, you should train harder. All three of you—you need to be able to keep Elita safe."
Elita looked back at Orion. Her fury was gone, and she was feeling pity for him. "I know that bothers you," she said quietly.
"It does," Orion said. "But it's your decision. And I do want you to be able to defend yourself."
Elita nodded solemnly.
"Well, that's that." Ratchet said. "Get out, go on."
They filed out of his office.
Makeshift watched his mark from across the room, thoughtfully. He got called up into the tower a little more frequently now, and he was fairly sure Red Alert would let him in if he showed up at the base of the elevator and asked. But he had to be careful not to overstay his welcome, or the security mech would get suspicious.
Assassinations weren't really his thing. He wasn't afraid of killing, of course—he'd done his fair share of that—but it was just so pedestrian. Blow his cover so he could stab a mech in the back and then run for it. It was a waste. He wasn't some common assassin—he was the only mech who'd been able to slip past the security in this place. He was probably the only mech who could get past that ridiculous red and white menace.
He got the sense that Blackangle wasn't too happy about his orders either, but Makeshift supposed until the boss got rid of that gladiator, they had to make a pretense.
And he could sneak in again later, if he had to. There were ways.
For now, though, he had to figure out how to kill Prowl.
The Praxian sat in the corner of the main room by himself. They had converted this place to a sort of energon hall, with chairs and tables, and an energon dispenser along one wall. Makeshift had been here four or five times in the past several orns and had stayed as long as he dared, listening, observing. This was the very first time he'd seen the Prowl here, and from what he knew that was a stroke of good fortune since the mech rarely left his office.
Prowl was a loner—not very well liked, not very friendly. And that made things difficult. It was always a lot easier to kill someone if Makeshift could make a line of trust and impersonate his way up through it to his mark.
But he didn't think Prowl trusted anyone, except maybe Optimus Prime, and Makeshift couldn't use the Prime. He'd have to incapacitate anyone he decided to scan, and the Prime was too well-protected.
He could also just walk up to the mech and stab him, but that was riskier, less likely to work, and he'd definitely be caught.
Red Alert stormed into the room and headed toward Makeshift. Makeshift's spark jumped, but he quickly realized the mech was actually heading for the next table over, where Jazz, Blurr, and one of the other mecha from the department were sitting, making light conversation.
Jazz was interesting. Makeshift thought he was a little too friendly to be the head of the department. He was certainly qualified, and could be intimidating when he wanted to, but the spies shouldn't all be friends with one another. That could lead to problems and complications. Jazz—being a former member of Quantum—ought to understand that.
"Jazz!" Red Alert snapped when he got to the table.
Jazz jumped and turned around. "Frag, don't scare me, Red. What?"
Red Alert leaned forward. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you," he growled under his breath. "I need cameras everywhere in this tower. Your office is not an exception."
Jazz shook his helm. "Ya do have cameras in my office."
"Well, I did…"
"They're still there," Jazz said. "Still operational too. They just ain't feeding any of their footage to you."
"But…"
"I get that that's important, mech, believe me. If ya ever need ta know what happened in my office just ask and I'll forward ya the tapes. But I need that office ta be a safe place where I can talk about sensitive information without…"
"I am cleared for sensitive information," Red Alert said. "I'm head of security."
"Yeah, mech, I know," Jazz said. "It's not you, I just don't want those conversations stored on any sort of network database…"
"You think I'd just store it somewhere without encrypting everything and making sure no one can find it?"
"I trust ya, I just don't want ta risk it. Mech, we're up against Soundwave here. He can hack almost anything."
"He doesn't need to," Red Alert said.
"Exactly. Look, ya can stick more cameras in there if you want. But I'm just gonna do the same thing ta them that I did ta the ones ya put in there already."
"I will speak with the Prime about this."
"Okay," Jazz said.
Red Alert stormed away.
"Yikes," Blurr said.
"Eh, he's always like that," Jazz said, getting up from the table. "I gotta go talk ta someone. I'll catch up with ya mechs later." Jazz got up and walked away, to another table, where some members of the public relations team were sitting. He started up a conversation with them.
Makeshift looked back at his mark, but Prowl's table was now empty. He must have left at some point. Makeshift looked down into his cube of energon, thinking. Who did Prowl trust? He almost never left his office, almost never talked to anyone outside of meetings. He didn't seem to have any friends either.
Makeshift was going to have trouble, even if he did find someone Prowl trusted. Red Alert was always, always watching the cameras. If Makeshift wanted to do this and get away with it…
Jazz's office was a blind spot, apparently. Maybe Makeshift could… no. There was no way he'd be able to incapacitate Jazz. That was far too risky. He'd have to think of something else. Maybe there was some other way he could use the room.
He needed more time to come up with a good plan. Blackangle had told him he needed the job done as soon as possible, but Makeshift wasn't going to rush it. He would continue to bide his time until he had a good opportunity.