Author's Notes: I don't know why, but I've been on a real fanfic writing blitz lately. I think it's because I freed myself from the Friday schedule and now I just want to see how many of my ideas I can jot down. As for this chapter, it turned out okay but isn't really the big chapter. That one might be coming up next time though if no better ideas pop into my brain. Anyway, thank you for following this mystery, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter :)

Chapter 6

Stories

The investigation into who had betrayed the Autobots was starting to turn the Ark upside down, and Optimus Prime felt surprisingly helpless during the entire process. Prowl wouldn't tell him who the main suspects were, Most of the crew had been locked inside for days and were getting antsy, Wheeljack had been holed up in his lab for two days working on a top secret project, Mirage had been arrested and then released, and Red Alert had been forced out of his own security station. In short, paranoia and suspicion abounded.

Optimus knew the investigation was necessary, but it was so tempting to just call the whole thing off so everything could go back to normal. Part of him was willing to believe one of his Autobots had just made a mistake and panicked in the moment, but another part of him knew that couldn't be true. The theft of the ionic destabilizer was too coordinated; too perfect. Clearly whoever gave the Decepticons that information knew every detail about the security measures and had no problem giving such info away to their enemies.

This thought made the Prime sigh heavily. Whoever had forsaken their team and their planet, he mourned for their loss. Sure, they weren't dead, but soon they would be as good as dead to every Autobot that had ever befriended them. He didn't want this for his people, but he knew it was unavoidable. The traitor did this to himself, whoever it was.

These thoughts were interrupted by a signal from Teletraan 1. It was coming from deep space and had an Autobot signal. It had to be either an ally, or a Decepticon in disguise. Optimus answered the comm, and was pleased to see his old friend Ultra Magnus on the screen.

"Ultra Magnus," Optimus greeted his fellow Autobot warmly, "I thought you were still on Cybertron with your squad."

"Change in plans," Ultra Magnus replied in clipped formal tones, "We picked up a transmission from a Decepticon known as Octane. Apparently he's coming down to earth with a new Decepticon weapon; a manufactured city-former known as Trypticon."

"That's impossible!" Optimus exclaimed incredulously, "One cannot manufacture an ancient. City-formers are practically extinct."

"Well they managed it," Ultra Magnus replied, "Blurr scouted the site of construction, and you won't believe this thing. It looks like a giant two-legged lizard and breathes fire. We know Trypticon will be difficult to defeat, so instead of a spaceship my crew and I are coming to earth in Metroplex. I know two city-sized Cybertronians will be a lot for an organic planet to handle, but we have no choice. Nothing else can defeat this thing."

"Who all is with you?" Optimus asked curiously.

"I'm bringing Kup, obviously," Ultra Magnus said with good humor, "That old warhorse is just what these younglings need to whip them into shape. I also have the scientist Brainstorm with me. He says you have a couple old friends of his aboard your ship; Wheeljack and Perceptor. The others are mostly kids. Hot Rod, Arcee, Springer, and Blurr. They can be a lot to handle, but I'd trust my life to any of them. Well, mostly. Hot Rod is a little green yet."

Prime chuckled before he said "I understand. Sideswipe is the same way. Bumblebee is inexperienced, but he is learning."

Optimus then suddenly remembered the current situation, and his mood quickly turned sober.

"Ultra Magnus, we have a grave situation aboard the Ark," Optimus began, "My SIC Prowl has been investigating a traitor aboard our ship."

"A traitor? Who is it?" Ultra Magnus asked immediately.

"We do not know yet," Optimus told him, "Until we figure it out though, no one is allowed to leave the ship. It has made my crew a bit...anxious."

"I see," Ultra Magnus replied calmly, "I'm sure your mech will be able to handle it. We'll be planetside within the orn. I look forward to seeing you all."

"And I look forward to seeing you as well," Optimus said graciously, "Prime out."

The transmission was cut, and Optimus walked away from Teletraan back to his office. He couldn't believe so much was happening all at once. He would have to secure land for Metroplex, he would have to debrief the new Autobots, and he would have to check with Prowl to see which mechs he could even allow to have contact with the new troops. If the case wasn't solved by the time the new Autobots showed up, then the traitor could cause some serious havoc to their ranks.

Back on Metroplex, Kup was busy telling the gathered Autobots a story from back when he was in the jungles of Gorr during the earlier period of the Third Cybertronian War.

"...So there I was, all alone with a leaking coolant tank with nothing to defend myself but a small vibroblade," Kup recounted dramatically, "The Graal beast was getting closer. My scent was strong because of the leaking energon and coolant, and I knew if I didn't do something that I would be that monster's breakfast."

"WhatDidYouDo?" Blurr asked in his usual hurried tone of voice.

"I climbed a tree and waited," Kup replied, "I held my blade tight and waited for the beast to get in range. When it was close enough, I jumped on its head and dug my blade into its skull!"

Everyone gasped as he pantomimed the action for them.

"Of course that wasn't enough to stop the slagger," Kup told them, "I rode that thing like a mechanical bull, but it just wouldn't die. I was growing weaker, and was sure that I was doomed. Suddenly though, I see a flash of red out of the corner of my optic."

"What was it?" Arcee asked in suspense.

"It was my good friend Ironhide," Kup replied with a smile, "He showed up just in the knick of time to blast a hole in that ugly Graal beast's chest. Oh, I tell you what, if it weren't for Ironhide saving my aft that day I wouldn't even be here. I'm really looking forward to seeing that old geezer's faceplate again."

"Wow, sounds like Prime's unit is something else," Springer said eagerly, "I can't wait to meet them. It's just a shame there aren't any other triple changers."

"Hey, you want triple changers? Go check out the 'Cons," Hot Rod laughed.

"Don't joke about that, kid," Kup warned the upstart, "Apparently there's a real honest to goodness traitor in their midst, and it's got everyone real edgy."

"I hope everyone there will be alright," Brainstorm replied worriedly, "Wheeljack and Perceptor are both sensitive mechs. I wouldn't want anything to happen to either of them. Not to mention Grapple. As I recall that mech is a real diva."

"How do you know these guys again?" Hot Rod asked.

"I met Perceptor at a protest during the Golden Age," Brainstorm recalled, "Now I normally wasn't the type to protest, but at that time the council was trying to force all scientists out of their home city-states to go live in the slums of some backwater place called Simfur."

"You two avoided Simfur? Talk about dodging a laser blast," Kup remarked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Indeed," Brainstorm nodded affirmatively, "Perceptor was the one who said avoid Simfur at all costs. I was very attached to my engineering practice in my home city-state of Iacon so I found his message very appealing. Poor Wheeljack though. You'd just have to know him to understand. He wasn't good at making his own decisions or going against social norms. If the council told him to go to Simfur, then he went to Simfur. Wheeljack and I were best friends since primary school; practically brothers. I was always the stronger personality of the two though. Wheeljack was friendly and intelligent, but had a weak will and would do anything to make others happy."

"Sounds like a decent guy," Springer commented.

"Oh, he was," Brainstorm nodded, "I honestly had assumed he died in the attack on Simfur. He never contacted me. I can't help but wonder if he was angry at me for not supporting his decision to go to Simfur. I know we didn't agree on Perceptor's rhetoric, but Perceptor turned out to be right. I suppose what drew me to Perceptor was just how much conviction he had when he spoke. I was so used to being the strong one in my friendships that it was nice to meet someone who...who didn't need me as much. I was just tired of carrying Wheeljack all the time, but I never meant to abandon him. I...I hope he will forgive me."

"A likable minibot like you? How could he not?" Hot Rod asked with a smarmy grin.

Brainstorm laughed at how goofy Hot Rod looked when he tried to look reassuring, and it helped him get his processor off things for a moment. He tried to think positively about the situation. He and Wheeljack could discuss theoretical science like old times. They could catch up on what they had missed from each other's lives. Also, since Perceptor worked with Wheeljack now, the three of them could finally hang out together.

Sludge was alone in an empty field in robot mode. He couldn't find his brothers, and he couldn't find the other Dinobots. He walked slowly toward the horizon as the wheat in the field brushed against his big metal pedes. It tickled.

As he walked he began to notice something odd about the field. It was bright and warm, and the sky was darker. Oh, right. It was on fire. The field was on fire. Sludge was standing perfectly still in a field that was on fire. He figured he should probably move to try to get away from the fire.

Sludge walked away from the fire, but the fire was still all around him. He didn't know what to do, so he tried to remember that safety PSA he saw on TV. It had said to stop and drop a roll. Sludge didn't know how that would help, but he pulled a piece of bread out of his subspace anyway. He didn't feel like dropping it though, so he tested out his new matter converter by eating it.

"You ate the bread?" A voice suddenly gasped.

Sludge looked down to see Wheeljack on the ground lying on his back surrounded by fire.

"You're eating bread when I'm melting?" Wheeljack asked accusingly, "That's not very nice. You didn't even share!"

"Uh...My Sludge sorry, Wheeljack," Sludge apologized contritely.

"Yeah, me too," Wheeljack replied sincerely, "I wanted to give you a good world, but instead I'm melting because I'm on fire. Could you tell Ratchet to make more bread?"

"Uh...Sure," Sludge nodded slowly.

"War doesn't end nicely, you know," Wheeljack suddenly said to the confused Dinobot, "It doesn't end with pizza boxes and bread. It ends with melty people and dead things."

Wheeljack then suddenly turned into a million tiny bugs and they all flew away. Sludge watched them fly away, and saw Megatron fall out of the sky. Megatron then took a flamethrower and burned up all the tiny bugs, and the flaming bugs burned up the sky.

Sludge awoke in Dino-mode panting heavily from his intakes working overtime. He was terrified of his strange dream, and wasn't sure what it meant. A smarter mech would have connected Ratchet's earlier Simfur story with the dream, but Sludge wasn't that clear-headed. All he knew was that he didn't want to be alone.

He tried to nudge one of his brothers awake, but they were all deep in recharge. He needed to talk to someone, but he hadn't seen Wheeljack in two days and Ratchet would yell at him for interrupting his patient repair time. Sludge needed someone, anyone, to put a new thought into his processor, so he transformed into robot mode and left the Dinobot lair in search of a friendly faceplate.

Sludge stalked the halls in the late night. He didn't know where he was going, only that he needed to find someone.

As he passed the security room, he saw that the lights were on. Sludge poked his head inside and saw that Red Alert was pulling wires out of some monitors and muttering to himself.

"Hrm...grr...Prowl thinks he can order ME around, huh...grm...Show him..." Red Alert grumbled as he pulled on more wires, "I'm the security chief...he won't...get...away with...this! He can't...outsmart me!"

Sludge watched for a moment, but didn't really want to talk to the mech that always yelled at him and his brothers, so he left Red Alert alone to break his fancy machines or whatever it was he was doing.

For several more minutes Sludge traversed the halls searching for someone to...well, he actually forgot why he was looking for someone, but he still remembered that he was looking for someone friendly.

After a few more minutes Sludge walked by the various private quarters and noticed the light was on in one. He didn't know which mech lived in this room, but at this point it hardly mattered. Sludge was tired and still a little bit afraid, though he had already forgotten the details of his dream. Sludge knocked on the door, and Bluestreak answered.

"Huh? A Dinobot? What's going on?" Bluestreak asked in confusion, though it was clear he was still awake.

"You Bluestreak awake," Sludge pointed out the obvious.

"Yes, well, I don't recharge well," Bluestreak replied sheepishly, "At night there's nothing to drive the bad thoughts away."

"You Bluestreak have bad thoughts?" Sludge asked curiously.

"Well...yeah, occasionally," Bluestreak stammered, "I was just, um, thinking of...of Praxus. It was my home city-state. You probably don't want to hear about that."

"Me Sludge want to hear," Sludge replied openly, "What am Praxus like?"

"Oh, well, it was nicknamed the Crystal City because the center of town was made out of pure Cybertronian crystals," Bluestreak began as he stepped aside for Sludge to enter his room, "It was originally built by the Constructicons, but of course they weren't evil back then. There were so many beautiful parks in the city, and the skyline was on hundreds of postcards. In fact, at one point the standard computer background was a picture of Praxus. That was back when recreational computers were still a big thing on Cybertron. I think earth has some very interesting computer models. The laptop is kinda big to be on a human's lap, and the tablet isn't made of stone at all. I don't really understand why they name certain things the way they do. I mean, why do they call the act of removing dust dusting? Shouldn't it be undusting? Wouldn't that make more sense? I mean, you don't call debunking bunking, right? That would be weird. Speaking of weird, have you noticed the way some of the mechs have been acting lately? Prowl hasn't really talked to me since the investigation began, and I'm really starting to miss him. He's like a big brother to me. Hey, do you Dinobots think of Grimlock as a big brother, or are you all the same to each other?"

"Uh...Me Sludge not know," Sludge replied; his optics glazed over from trying to keep up with Bluestreak's tangent, "You Bluestreak know story?"

"Story?" Bluestreak asked obliviously.

"Me Sludge have bad thoughts too," Sludge admitted, "Bad sleepy time thoughts. Story helps make mind better."

"Gee, no one ever asks to hear one of my stories," Bluestreak replied humbly, "I would be happy to help. Let me think...a story for a Dinobot...well, I have a story about special ops if you want to hear it."

"Okay," sludge nodded compliantly.

"Well, it all started when I had an accident in the shooting range," Bluestreak began, "I accidentally shot Tracks in the pede, and after that everyone was worried I was losing my touch. Well, I needed to take my sharpshooter's test again to make sure I got to keep my long-range weapons. I wasn't allowed to have my gun, so I had to leave it with someone trustworthy. I decided on Trailbreaker since he's a pretty reliable mech. What I forgot about Trailbreaker however was that he liked to drink, a lot. He got overcharged one orn and accidentally gave my gun to Bumblebee by mistake thinking it was a special ops weapon. Well, Bumblebee took the gun on a mission in Decepticon HQ, but they were discovered and got caught in a firefight. When Jazz lost his gun Bumblebee gave him mine, so then Jazz had it. Then he lost it in a poker game to Mirage, and Mirage traded it to Hound in exchange for getting out of outdoor patrol duty. Before long, every member of special ops had been in possession of my gun, and the only reason I found out was because Red Alert caught everything on security tape! Hahahaha!"

Sludge laughed with Bluestreak even though he couldn't follow the story. He just wanted to hear someone else's voice and didn't much care what Bluestreak actually said. Bluestreak was also happy that someone (for once) was hanging on his every word. The story did bring a somber thought to Bluestreak however.

"Gee, I hope Red Alert isn't the traitor," Bluestreak said softly, "His behavior has been pretty shady lately. I hope that's just typical security stuff."

"Him Red Alert rip wires," Sludge told Bluestreak.

"What?" Bluestreak asked; not following.

"Him Red Alert rip wires," Sludge repeated, "Out of fancy security TVs. Him say Prowl not outsmart him."

Bluestreak gasped at the news the simple-minded Dinobot had just told him. If what Sludge said was credible, and the apatosaurus had no reason to lie, then Red Alert was trying to obstruct the investigation. The most likely conclusion for why was obvious: Red Alert was hiding something.