XVII

Orion stood, looking out the window. It felt as though something was coming, something big. He sighed, looking over his growing collection of data pads. One regarding Alpha Trion he'd gotten from Soundwave. One was the recent history of Cybertron. One was the legend of Primes, stories of the original thirteen. The pad in his hand was his journal, which he'd recently started. With everything going on, writing things down seemed refreshing. At the same time, he could express himself in ways he couldn't to his friends.

"Orion…"

Orion dropped the pad, spinning around to see Soundwave standing in the doorway. The stealth bot moved into the room, stopping by the books. He ran a long finger down the side of the pads as if judging the titles.

"You scared me," sighed Orion, patting his chest. He bent down to pick up the fallen pad. "What brings you?"

"I need to tell you something."

"Oh," perked Orion, setting the pad aside. "If you came all this way, it must be important."

"I know…you are not like Megatron,"remarked Soundwave, looking up at him.

"Oh?"

"You do not use certain means to get your way,"Soundwave approached him. "You are a bot of your word but more importantly, you're a pacifist."

"I don't know about pacifism," mumbled Orion. "What are you getting at, Soundwave?"

"Alpha Trion is dead."

It felt as though a gunshot had gone off beside Orion's head, forcing a ringing in his audio receptors. Soundwave nodded gently, arms behind his back. Orion half expected his screen to ping, revealing the details and photos of the scene, but it remained silently blank.

"H-h-how?" stuttered Orion.

"Found dead this morning,"explained Soundwave. He gestured to the center of his screen. "Point blank. One shot."

Orion shuddered, covering his mouth. He felt sick. Ringing. Everything was ringing.

"I know you would never,"continued Soundwave, looking away, "but I know you have taken the company of…questionable character."

"Knockout and Shockwave were with me the entire time. When we left, Alpha Trion was still alive," gasped Orion.

"Your medic?"

"R-Ratchet?" mumbled Orion. "No, he was with us as well. We stayed together. Especially since we know we're being watched."

"I figured as much."

There was a pause. Orion felt the ringing dying down, replaced with a burning in his spark. He tightened his fingers into a fist, snarling. The councilman. He knew. He did this.

"I'll delete any information regarding you or your friends in that area,"Soundwave started again. "I assume this goes back to your conviction?"

"Yes," snarled Orion.

"What will you do now?"

Orion took a deep breath, trying to release the building pressure in his body. Slowly, he nodded.

"I have an idea," Orion sighed.

"Will you need my assistance?"

"No, I think I've got this one, Soundwave," replied Orion, heading for the door. He paused, looking over his shoulder. "I don't want to sound rude, but if you could see yourself out…"

Soundwave nodded.

Orion walked down the hall, entering the main lab where the others were. Knockout and Ratchet seemed to be in mid argument while Shockwave ignored their existence. Upon entering, the argument abruptly ended as Ratchet met Orion's gaze.

"What happened?" mumbled Ratchet, standing up in an attempt to act like nothing happened.

"Alpha Trion was found dead," Orion announced.

Shockwave looked up from his work. Knockout lowered his saw. Ratchet stepped forward.

"How? When? How?" gasped Ratchet.

"Do you really have to ask?" commented Shockwave, shaking his head.

"We got what we needed though," Knockout shrugged. "Location and means of opening the chamber."

"Alpha Trion died in giving us that information," huffed Orion. "His name is not one will just forget. He was not just a means to an end."

"Yes, sir," mocked Knockout, rolling his eyes.

"So, when are we off to Kaon?" Shockwave sighed. "I assume time is now of the essence."

"Actually," chuckled Orion, "there's something I want to do first."

"Sweet," grinned Knockout. "Where we going this time?"

"Not we, just me," corrected Orion.

"What did you have in mind?" Ratchet hummed.

"I'm going to steal from the Hall of Records," smirked Orion with a satisfactory nod.

"Pardon?" sputtered Ratchet, optics wide.

"I've been thinking," sighed Orion, "if all of this leads to anything close to what I've seen in my visions, there are things in the Hall of Records that shouldn't fall into their hands. With my access, I can get in and out without raising alarms."

"You haven't gone to work in a while. Are you still technically working there?" Ratchet commented.

"I know everyone who works there," Orion nodded, stepping away. "Even if my codes have been locked out, I still have a few connections."

"What do you plan on taking?" Ratchet questioned.

"I have a few relics in mind. Weapons," Orion sighed. "Liegian Darts, Requiem Blaster…Spark extractor…"

"I'm sorry, what?" perked Knockout.

"They're relics of the ancients but if a battle were to break out, these could be used as deadly weapons!" argued Orion. "I have to keep them from the council's hands!"

Knockout and Ratchet exchanged looked. Orion gave a deep sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"This is something I have to do alone," Orion nodded. "I'll catch up with you guys."

"If I may argue," Shockwave interjected, "going alone is quite dangerous. The whole point of this mission was to collect the Matrix of Leadership, which cannot be attained by anyone other than a worthy prime which only you qualify for."

"In short, we lose you in a little shoplifting, we're screwed," added Knockout.

"Let me come with you at least," offered Ratchet, stepping forward. "Like old times."

Old times was like last week. Orion nodded gently. He didn't want to be alone anyway.