Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.


Sentinel: *sighs* Is this what I get for letting Fable chase you for that long?

Authoress: *shakes head* No, I just haven't gotten around to you all yet. But, I'm not done with you at all. Not by far.

Fable: *smirks* Perfect. I am not ready to stop having fun yet.


Chapter 14: Vulcan and Athenia

Fable's 1st P.O.V.

I smirked as the two humans stared up at us in awe. As I had promised Tim and Evan, they were brought to the base by Pastel, who they didn't know was Lizzie, to meet all of us. Rhey did knownshe was a bot now. We had her soliform tell them the other solar. We had debated on whether or not to introduce them to Pandimala. Finally, my Caesar agreed with the choice of telling them. They wouldn't go blabbing to Team Orion and they also wouldn't understand the significance of her presence. So, they were allowed to come and meet her as well.

Also, we had to make sure to do this now, because both Team Vulcan and Team Athenia were due to arrive later this solar. With them here, Pandimala was going to be put on a basic house arrest since, unlike Team Orion, they would be here quite often. Since we did not want Pandimala's status revealed, we had to do this before they arrived so she could stay hidden. We were going to wait until we had no other choice but to reveal her.

And then, those Primes would pay. Pay for all of the pain and suffering that they had caused my Caesar…and my team, for all of these stellars. I may not be the newest on the team anymore, but I still felt like I was new. Trecke had stood by our Prime's side for so long that I felt like I needed to show him my loyalty. I knew he trusted me, and I would slay every single Autobot, Decepticon, Neutral…any living being in existence for him. Drains would run with the lifeforce of any who stood in the way of my Caesar.

But, for now, we would bide our time. We weren't the complete savages that Team Orion seemed to make us out to be. We were smarter than they were and we were going to prove that. We would gather up our evidence while making sure that they stayed in their place, and then once the time was right, we were going to expose them for what they truly were. Monsters. Monsters who hid what they were with bravado and false grandeur. But, we would show them. We would tear them apart. Their energon would bleed out into the streets, decorating the ground in a glorious bath of vengeance.

"You okay there Fable?" Pandimala asked me with a concerned look.

Nodding, I smiled. "Just fine. Thinking about the future." I then turned to the two humans staring up at us, still in shock. "You know, if you take a picture it will last longer." My smirk widened when Evan did just that.

"So," Pastel spoke up, a smile on her faceplate. "Want to guess who is who? I'll tell you now that you have met all of us."

Their confident looks suddenly fell as they took the five of us in. They probably thought they would only have to put names on the four of us. They probably didn't realize who Pandimala could be and might be doubting their choice of who Lizzie was. Good. It was nice to keep those around me on their tips of their pedes.

"We've met you all?" Tim asked with increasing pitch.

Trecke nodded. "But of course. We are all friends after all. Correct?" Oh, now this was interesting. Trecke was getting in on this banter as well? I had to be dreaming.

The two humans huddled with each other, looking back at us occasionally before they turned back. "Okay, we have our guess, but don't get mad if we get them wrong." And not so surprisingly they added that. They had seen me act out before, back when that bully was terrorizing Tim. I would bet they were worried about something like that happening to them. But, they needn't worry. Since we were making them guess, then mistakes were going to be inevitable.

"Of course." My Caesar agreed, sending quick looks to both Fable and myself as he did. While I knew why he did, given our loyalty to him, I knew when I should behave…most of the time.

Tim then pointed to Pastel. "That's Lizzie. She's too bubbly to be anyone else."

Pastel nodded and smiled. "Correct there guys. Sorry for not telling you before this. But, there never is a good time to say 'oh hey, and just so you know, I'm an alien that is older than life on this fragging planet'."

Evan held up his hands in surrender. "Fair enough. I don't know what we would do in that situation." He then looked at Pandimala before saying. "Honestly, Pandimala, we don't know who you are for sure. The only other girl we know somewhat is Julie and you don't act like her in the slightest. So, we are asking for yours please?"

She smiled and laughed. "It's only fair since you never heard my voice. I've been recovering from damage I received many years ago, and that reflected on my soliform."

Before she could continue, Evan's eyes seemed to light up. Interesting effect. I would have to investigate that later. "You're 'Stasi?"

Tim's eyes widened and glanced up at Pandimala as she laughed. "Yes, I am. I've known Sentinel for a long time, though we were separated by forces we couldn't control. I didn't want to reveal what I was until either I was fully healed or I had a chance to see him again. Thankfully, both seemed to happen for me."

The two humans nodded before Tim pointed at Trecke. "We were kinda stuck on you two," He said before he pointed to me as well. Oh, this was going to be juicy. They were stuck on myself and Trecke. This had even odds of turning into a battlefield if this went the way I was sure it was about to go. He then looked back at Trecke before saying, "But, you seem flamboyant enough to make us think you are Raum, and we think he," Pointing at me, of course. "Is Micha."

A cackle burst from me that I couldn't stop at Trecke's faceplate reaction. Oh, Primus, this was getting so good! I was going to cherish the stricken look on his faceplate for eternity. Trecke…being mistaken for me? Oh, that was the best thing I had heard outside of my caesar's speaking. I continued to cackle, even as I felt Trecke's optics boring into me with anger. "Keep it up you sadist, and I'll show you how far I can shove a pipe up your aft."

When a streak of deviousness flashed through my processor, I knew I had to act on it. Moving quickly, I got right into Trecke's faceplate with a smirk on my own. "That had better be a promise, lover mech."

And I cackled again as Trecke looked as if he was about to purge all of his energon. This was one of the best solars yet on this planet. I was so glad that we were doing this now. With the arrival of these two teams, I knew that our relations with Team Orion were going to go downhill and fast. That was especially once the other teams saw just how pathetic most of them were. Outside of the bug and Pip of course. And of course Ratchet. As much as he didn't like me, I respected him. His assistant, Arcee, so far didn't seem to be bad. I'd hold judgment for now.

So, about half of their team. Point was that we were going to have struggles following. Having this bit of joy before that began was something I was going to revel in.

"Enough Fable," I immediately stopped at my leader's order. "Give Trecke a rest. You'll overload his circuits if you keep that up and we have to be ready for Team Athenia's and Team Vulcan's arrival."

"That's not all he might overload," I gagged on a laugh as I heard Pandimala 'whisper' that with a smirk on her faceplate. Trecke looked betrayed at her words and looked like he was sulking.

"So, we switched them up," Evan finally said before he motioned to our leader…my caesar. "And that means that you are Michael."

Our precious leader nodded. "Yes, I am." He then paused before continuing. "And while I would like to continue this meeting, we will have to escort you back to town. Two more teams are coming and we aren't sure how they will react to humans yet, given that out of all of them only two bots have been to Earth before."

Tim nodded. "It's okay, we couldn't stay long anyway. I've got some studying to do and Evan here has promised to help me out some." He then looked up at Pastel. "Can you give us a ride back to my place?"

She glanced at our leader for his approval, which he gave before she nodded. "Sure. Just remember that my place is always open for you guys. I won't be using it much anymore." Pastel then transformed and, once her passengers were loaded, made her way out of the base.

Once they were out of sight, I turned to our leader. "Caesar, when are the ships set to arrive?"

"Both teams should be touching down in about four cycles. I figure Team Orion will come here to greet them with us in about three. Bumblebee and Sari may show up a little earlier than that."

"So, I need to be in hiding within the next two cycles," Pandimala inferred from our leader.

My Caesar nodded. "Correct. While I trust Bumblebee and Sari, the yellow scout still hasn't learned to control what comes out of his vocals. That is especially when he gets riled up or flustered. With Optimus and Elita, along with most of his team, I don't want to risk putting you in the spotlight until we are all ready for that. I am sorry you have to stay hidden Pandimala."

She shook her helm. "Never be sorry for events outside of your control. Every other Autobot should think that I am offline. They won't suspect otherwise when you reveal the truth of what happened that solar so long ago," Pandimala held a servo above her spark. "Their foolishness that solar was only compounded by the arrogance and senseless disregard for you they had as they foisted this blame on your shoulders. Yours, Sen, even though it was you who was against that side-trip from the start and was attacked by them when you tried to leave." A shiver of glee ran through my circuits as I saw fire behind her optics. One that I saw in both my own and Fable's visor whenever we thought about what those Prime's did. "They will atone for the pain they caused you, one way or another."

We picked up some idle chit-chat between the four of us until Pastel returned. Then, we made our way to the training rooms. With the arrival of the two teams coming soon, we needed to train as much as we could while we had time. Our revenge against the Primes would not be complete if we were not at the best of our abilities.

Megatron's 1st P.O.V.

Finally, they had arrived. With everything going on between Team Apocalypse and the lack of information, I found myself hoping that Team Chaar's arrival would help fill in some of the gaps that we were missing. But, as the ship before me started its post-landing procedures, I knew that my luck was going to change, and for the better. This information that was just out of reach might finally be mine. It might finally allow us to move forward with our plans. Phase one needed to succeed, and for that, we needed to understand the Autobot situation on Earth. And I doubt the Autobots would be willing to just hand that over.

However, I first needed to greet my Decepticons after their long flight to meet me. And I also needed to make sure that the neutral mech promised to not get in our way. We were nearing a turning point in this war and I was not going to let him ruin this chance. The hiss of the pressure lock releasing had me focusing as the gangplank lowered. It was no surprise to me when those onboard immediately began to disembark.

Not surprisingly, the first down the gangplank was Strika, the fearsome leader of Team Chaar. Her optics only roamed until they landed on me. "Megatron, it is good to be by your side."

"It is a relief that you are here. With more Autobots set to arrive, we could use all of the assistance you can offer," I returned her greeting.

Next down the gangplank were Oilslick and Blitzwing's sire, Pandemonium. They seemed to be in a quiet debate about something, though I wasn't sure about what it might be. Once they were down, they both approached me. "It is our honor to be back with you," Pandemonium greeted with a half bow.

"Yes, I am anxious to speak with you Megatron," Oilslick added.

And I was anxious to speak with him. He was the one, according to Lockdown, that had the information regarding the Autobot incident on Archa 7. He may give me the answers that I would need to help me move phase one along. It was becoming obvious with each interaction with the Autobots that the yellow scout would not be a good pick for capture. While he was obviously in a questioning processor state, the panic we saw during our last encounter with them proved that the mech would not respond well to capture. No, he needed to come to us on his own.

However, given recent information and events, there was one that I was starting to consider. They would be perfect for convincing, given that we could get to them. It would be tricky to get him, but once we had him we would be able to convince him. I was sure.

Once the rest of the passengers were out of the ship, and most of the greetings were done, I turned to the one mech among them that was not one of my Decepticons. "And you. What are your plans here on Earth?"

The mech glanced at me with a nervous look before he shrugged. "Personal business. I've paid your passage fare, so we should have no more business."

He was being evasive. Most neutrals weren't so…hesitant around us once they saw we would keep our word. While the mech claimed to not know his own designation, something told me that letting him out of our sights would not be wise. So, I motioned toward the expansive rock face that hid our base. "If you wish, for a small fee and a promise to not interfere in my plans, you may have your recharges and energon among us."

I could almost feel Starscream questioning what I was doing. However, I didn't acknowledge him yet. Once this mech answered me and went to explore, as I assumed he would, then I would answer his question. As I thought, the mech studied me for a nano. "Ten credits per recharge cycle, and two extra per energon cube I have with you all sound fair? Also, I reserve the right to interfere verbally if I feel like you are getting in the way of my own goals." He asked and bargained. I would have offered the mech this for free, for the sole purpose of finding out what he was hiding, but that might make the mech suspicious. Also, verbally meant that he would state his disagreement with whatever he might do so with, but he would not physically get in the way of what we were doing.

So, I nodded. "Yes, that sounds reasonable."

The faded dark blue mech with orange and lime green markings nodded and handed the twelve credits over. "I'll return not long after darkness falls on this planet." He then moved away from us.

Once I was sure his signature was gone, I turned to Starscream, who was ready with his question. "Why did you offer to quarter the mech with us?"

"I don't find myself agreeing with Starscream often," Pandemonium's bondmate and Blitzwing's carrier, Malice, spoke as she moved forward. "But I'm not sure how comfortable I feel being near that mech anymore. The way he acts tells me he is hiding something."

While I understood their worry, I was sure that they would also understand my response. "That is why I wish to keep him close. I hope that, with all that we have planned, I can learn why he has come here. Earth is not the most well-known planet in the galaxies. If we let him on his own, we may not be able to track him down again should we discover something." I then glanced at the others. "You are not the only ones who are suspicious of the mech. He seems too familiar, and the fact that I cannot remember him despite that familiarity is a problem." I then shook my helm. "We'll keep that for later. Strika, once we get inside, I want a report about your contact and what she reported to you."

"Of course," She agreed. All thirteen of us then went inside and gathered in the control room. Once we were all settled, she re-started to speak. "After we broke communications and I sent you the information on Team Athenia and Team Vulcan, I immediately got into communications with my contact on Cybertron. After greetings, she asked what she could do for me and I asked her to give me any information about Team Apocalypse that she hasn't before."

"And did this femme have anything to say about them?" Starscream interrupted.

Strika shot a glare at the seeker. "I was getting to that," She then adjusted herself. "She told me about their medic, Fable. To her, he seems to be one of the few truly psychotic mechs to come out of the Autobots. From watching a training session of Team Apocalypse, she warned me to be careful around him because he can be quite deadly on the battlefield." She then shook her helm. "But what was interesting was the fact that she then hesitated. The femme and I have a pretty close connection for being on opposite sides and for her to hesitate told me that there was something she was holding back."

Well, this report went from reiterating the fact that Fable was dangerous to interesting. If this information was something that her contact was not telling her, then this might be something that could change our views on the team. Had something happened with the team while on Cybertron? Something that was being covered up? "Did you discover why she was holding back?" I asked Strika.

Strika nodded. "I had to convince her that whatever information she had to tell me would make phase 1 go much smoother," And she was right, it would make dealing with this team much smoother if we knew everything. "She remained quiet for a few more clicks before she told me. One of her contacts, though she didn't name them, said that he heard a rumor while visiting the plant Vehicon. According to her, the source her contact spoke to is servos deep in information and that they told her contact that Trecke was not the first bot that Sentinel Prime invited onto his team."

The room went silent at that revelation. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. All of our information said that Trecke was the first bot that Sentinel Prime invited onto his team and that he accepted. Now, if this new information is to be taken into account, there was another bot that Sentinel Prime asked. Did the bot refuse? Or was there something more at play? "Did she tell you anything more about this?" I questioned.

To my disappointment, Strika shook her helm. "No. She said that was all she had and that was why she was hesitant to give it to me. That, and the fact that every other source says that Trecke was the first one. But, my contact said that her contact trusted this source and she trusts her contact. She also let out that Cybertron is getting busy with more and more teams arriving by the solar. Said that with all of you escaping, the Autobots are flying in left and right. If I had to guess, they are probably fortifying their defenses against what you might have us do with your escape."

"Possibly," I agreed with her last statement, though my processor was focused on the important piece of news. If the strategist was not Sentinel Prime's first teammate, I needed to find out what happened to the first. It could be the reason for the stress between the three Primes. If Team Orion was the cause of this alleged first member's departure from Sentinel's team, then I needed to know what happened.

"Speaking of Vehicon, that is where I got my information on the Primes of the two teams on Earth before our arrival," Oilslick spoke up. "Well, that and something else I remembered on the way here. The first bit I heard was that when the three Primes were visiting Vehicon, two of them visited Hannibal. He's told me good leads on Autobot energon stores in the past and he told me that he sent them after the Twilight." We had lost contact with the ship in the Archa system. Even I didn't know what the bots on board were experimenting with, but it must have been energon for Hannibal to send the Primes after it.

"They must have been after the energon on the ship," Starscream added. That made sense. The Autobots, despite having Cybertron, had to ration their energon because certain classes of bots didn't know how to share well with others.

"And not just that," I looked at Shockwave as he jumped in as well. "The historical information on the Twilight, and information about our older tactics, would have been on the ship's outdated drives. The Autobots would have had no problem getting into the files." So, we now knew the cause of their trip to Archa 7. While that helped us know their motives, it wouldn't help figure out what split them apart to such a degree as the three Primes were.

To my surprise, Strika also joined in. "And it is clear to see what caused some tension between the three." What had I missed? "The two Primes who visited Hannibal were most likely the two that are currently on a team together. That means that, despite what the rumors from the Autobots say, it was Optimus Prime and Elita-One Prime that took their team on the detour, and not Sentinel Prime. Whatever went wrong on that trip, would have been even worse in his optics because they were the ones that were breaking that silly organic-phobic rule in the Autobots about restricted access to organic planets."

That was a valid point as well. But, something told me that this kind of infraction alone wouldn't have been enough to cause this split between the three Primes. No, there was something bigger that I wasn't seeing. Oilslick had mentioned that he had remembered something else from that trip. "Oilslick, what else did you learn about the Primes?"

He waved his servo in a back and forth motion before he spoke. "It isn't about the three Primes, exactly, but I don't think the timing that this happened was a coincidence. During that same trip, I was picking up a new supply of chemicals from a contact there and he told me about a bot that showed up about thirty solars after the events between the three Prime. The bot came to Vehicon with one of the scrap-scavenging parties that venture through that way. My contact couldn't give me a description but he said that the bot looked like they had been through the Pit and back. The medic in the facility patched up the bot the best they could. My contact heard from one of the assistants in the room during the repairs that the bot had been injured on Archa 7."

As he said, this couldn't be a coincidence.

So, despite what the report from the Autobots said, there was at least one more bot involved in the mess on Archa 7. That could be enough to make the one Prime angry enough to split from the others. That is especially if we knew the exact details of what happened that solar during their trip. We were so close with the information, and I still felt like the answer to this problem would be key in getting phase 1 back on a good schedule.

But, for now, we continued gathering evidence and piecing together what we could. It would take time, but we would find out these answers and get phase 1 moving again. I wanted peace for all who should inhabit Cybertron and not just the select few. I would make that happen, and the teams on Earth would be my first step in doing just that.

Rodimus Prime's 1st P.O.V.

What the frag did we fly into? As soon as both my team and Vox's team stepped off the platform, I noticed that Optimus' team and Sentinel's team were keeping their distance from each other. While I knew that Sentinel, Optimus, and Elita were at odds…and what bot didn't know that at this point…I didn't expect it to grow to the size that I had witnessed upon our arrival. The introductions were tense as if they expected the other side to start a brawl at any click. We were lacking information and I did not like it. Hopefully, with both of our teams here now, we could help ease whatever problems seemed to have wedged themselves between the two teams.

What was most surprising, though, was the fact that Sentinel's team was even to this point. They weren't one of the most well-liked teams on Cybertron and they were used to dealing with bots taking jabs at them, and Sentinel in particular. They had rarely let it affect them like this before, and even the rare few times it had, the tension was gone almost as soon as it started.

Of course, that usually involved missing limbs from the offending bots and Team Apocalypse filling out a lot of paperwork.

While our teams had been introducing themselves, I had messaged Vox and he was just as worried about what was happening as I was. So, over a private message, we had decided to each speak to the leaders of each team and try to find out what was causing this. If we could be mediators for them, then that would be a good start.

I drew the short straw and had to talk to Sentinel.

While Sentinel himself would be easy to talk to, I knew that Fable and Trecke were nanos from drawing energon from anybot who they felt was attacking Sentinel. It was one of the first observations I made when we had left our ships. Plus, the new femme on their team, Pastel, seemed close to that same task. I needed to get better at saying no to this. Just because I knew Sentinel better didn't mean that I had to be the one to risk my spark having this sort of talk with him.

"Sentinel, can we talk for a nano?" I then glanced at his teammates, who were looking toward us. "Alone if we could."

To my surprise, he studied me for a nano, a look of debate flashing across his faceplate, before he looked at his teammates. "I'll get with you all later." So, this wasn't going to be kept from them. Good. Hopefully, if they knew we were all worried about how they were acting, they might tone it back a little. Sentinel then led me out of the hanger and to one of the side rooms. Once the door was shut, he sat at the table inside. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Taking the seat across from the mech, I decided to just let it out. I knew from dealing with Sentinel in the past that he liked bots to be direct. "What's going on between your team and Team Orion? We were told that you were coming to help them fight against the Decepticons here. But, you all were looking at each other like you were going to offline each other when we arrived."

Sentinel let out a vent. "Interactions between our two teams have grown worse since our arrival here. My team has been behaving the best that they can, given everything, and half of Optimus' team can't seem to keep their thoughts to themselves. Fable hasn't even dissected one of them outside of checkups yet."

Honestly, as strange as it sounded, that was impressive. Usually, Fable would dismember parts of bots at any time once they signed his form. For him to not have done that here spoke of the restraint that they were showing. "Have there been any incidents between your two teams?"

Sentinel was only slightly reluctant when he nodded. "A few. We've had disagreements about information and the fact that we are training their scout since he asked us to. I don't think Optimus has figured out that we are also training his techno-organic, Sari, in both strategy and medicine. Once he finds out though, I suspect there will be a fight." He then shook his helm. "And after what happened after the last one, I am glad that we have two more medics on servo."

"What happened last time?" I almost dreaded asking, but our teams needed to know what we were walking into.

A frown came to Sentinel's faceplate and, for a nano, I saw anger behind his optics. "An energon signal had appeared and so my team had gone to investigate it. We had just found out that the Decepticons were attacking Team Orion when we were ambushed by members of Ebony Void."

"Ebony Void is on Earth?" I asked in shock. This was no small matter and we needed to be ready for whoever their target was.

"Was."

Was? But, Ebony Void didn't give up unless…"You took them out?" I asked in surprise. Ebony Void were top assassins. For Team Apocalypse to take them out… spoke volumes on their training.

He nodded. "It wasn't easy, and if it wasn't for Pastel arriving with assistance then we wouldn't have. By the time we had them dispatched, the Decepticons had retreated and so we went and regrouped with Optimus' team. He didn't believe that we had been delayed and instead accused me of purposefully leaving them to fight the Decepticons alone. Words were said by Optimus that couldn't be forgiven toward my team and Fable tried to tear Optimus apart. Prowl intercepted Fable and took a lot of damage. I'm pretty sure that, if it wasn't for Bumblebee having a panic attack, that Prowl would still be recovering from that attack."

"And we are still seeing the tension from that fight," I surmised. This wasn't good. If they were at this bad of odds with each other, then we had our work cut out for us just keeping the peace between them, let alone fighting the Decepticons when they popped up. Slag this all. The worst part is that I wasn't sure who the aggressors were. I would have to meet up with Vox later to see what he found out about Team Orion's side of the story. "Since our teams are here, would you be willing to keep your team at bay until we sort this out?"

"No." I flinched slightly at the bluntness Sentinel answered me. This wasn't like him at all. "All my team has done since we arrived on Earth is hold back and try to work together with Team Orion. We have been met with mistrust and accusations. I am done holding my team back. It is Team Orion's turn to meet us and if they can't see past their pride to do so, then I will not stop my team from taking retribution for our honor, which is our right. You do remember how the fight between Team Astro and the Guardians ended…correct?"

I flinched at the reminder. Team Astro had been a quickly rising team led by Phaser Prime. But, they got too big for their frames and started to harass the Guardians. At first, the Guardians acted as Team Apocalypse supposedly were. They reacted minimally and tried to work out things peacefully with the team of ten. However, Team Astro was relentless in trying to show their superiority over the Guardians and went a step too far. They jumped the Guardian known as Tana and put her in Iacon Central for thirty solars. Hinge, the leader of the Guardians, had enough at that point and declared a team feud with Team Astro. After Tana was released, the Guardians challenged Team Astro to rectify the feud in all-out combat in Kaon's arena.

The results were damaging, to say the least. While none of Team Astro had offlined during the fight, the least injured of them was only just released from Iacon Central when Megatron and his allies had escaped. That fight had happened about a stellar and a half ago.

At this click, the only team that was willing to mess with the Guardians were the Wreckers, and even they were hesitant after the beatdown the Guardians gave Team Astro.

"Are you that slighted by what Team Orion is doing?" I asked in surprise. Things didn't seem that bad when I walked down the gangplank. Bad but not that bad.

Sentinel, to my dismay, nodded. "We have been holding ourselves back. If Team Orion does not put in the work to fix our working relationship, then that is the route I may have to take. And it won't be pretty." He then stood, causing me to stand as well. "I have to go and get a round of training in with my team. After that, if you wish for somebot to show you the city and introduce you to some of the important figures, then we would be more than willing to assist you in that." He then walked out of the room.

Slag, I needed to meet up with Vox. Between what we had already witnessed and what I had just heard, we needed to act, and quickly. The Decepticons would not hesitate in using the division between Team Orion and Team Apocalypse against us. This needed to be resolved.

Jazz's 1st P.O.V.

When Vox walked into the rec room here at the base we landed at, I could immediately tell that he was frustrated. The two of us had been friends since we were sparklings and went through everything together. We learned how to read each other and that allowed me to serve as his second easier than any other bot would have been able to.

However, that ability now told me that his talk with Elita-One and Optimus did not go as planned. When we arrived, it was obvious to all of us that the two teams that started here on Earth were tense when in each other's presence.

"So, how'd it go, V.P.?" I asked the mech as he approached the table I was at.

My leader let out a vent before he sat down in the seat. That was not a good sign. Just how difficult were things here on Earth? "It was frustrating. At first, they didn't mind telling me their opinion on Team Apocalypse and how they were purposefully not helping Team Orion. But, when I started to ask them about things that they might have been doing to upset Team Orion, to find a middle ground, they immediately diverted the subject. Then, when I returned to the subject they were answering, they couldn't give me direct answers. Just the fluff we hear all the time when somebot isn't getting their way."

This was not going to be as easy as we thought it was going to be. While we had been traveling to Earth with Team Athenia, we had been thinking about the advantage we would surely have with four teams of Autobots on the planet against the Decepticons. Twenty-four Autobots, twenty-three not counting Sari, against thirteen confirmed Decepticons. That was just shy of us having a two-to-one advantage.

But, with this infighting between Team Orion and Team Apocalypse, we were in worse shape than I thought we were going to be. I wasn't an idiot, of course. I knew about the Great Prime Split, as some bots called it. Optimus, Elita-One, and Sentinel. Despite insistence from Sentinel Prime that he wanted to create his own team, the lack of bots being accepted caused many to believe that he would eventually fold and join Elia-One and Optimus as one of the most stacked teams the Autobots had ever seen. Having three fully trained Primes on one team would be a surprise to any who fought them on the battlefield.

However, those estimations were obliterated by the Archa 7 incident. The three came back to Cybertron and Sentinel made it clear, publicly, that he was cutting ties with Elita-One and Optimus. Back then, Vox had still been in training to become an intelligence agent and I was branching out to also have scout training along with my cyber-ninja training. However, watching how bots treated Sentinel Prime, despite them not knowing the full story on what happened on Archa 7, ate at Vox like nothing I had seen from him before.

One solar, he came over and asked me if I would join a team made by him. I said I would, but that he couldn't make a team because he was training to be an intelligence agent. That was when the mech had shown me the transfer paperwork, signed off on by Alpha Trion himself, to move study paths from an intelligence agent to Prime. After I got over the initial shock, I supported Vox through all of his extra studies. It took a few dozen stellars, but the mech finally accomplished the necessary classes to make Prime. I immediately joined his team and it was after when he finally told me the reason behind his choice.

He was angry at the lack of independent thought that ran rampant on Cybertron. All of these supposedly intelligent Autobots, many holding ranks, didn't even question if the facts from the Archa 7 incident were true. They just went with the crowd and blamed Sentinel Prime. Vox wanted to see a bot who could think for themselves join the ranked bots and he wasn't a slacker. Ever since we were little, if Vox wanted something done, then he would do it himself if he knew he could. And while the work had been difficult, he knew that he could reach Prime.

"Were you able to find out anything from them?" I asked as I leaned back in my seat. There had to be something good in this.

Vox waved his servo in a so-so motion before he spoke. "Possibly. Optimus let out that his scout, Bumblebee, has been getting training from Team Apocalypse for a while now. While Optimus was upset with this, I think that the scout needs all the help he can get. From what I have seen from the recordings we have of Team Orion's fights on Earth against the Decepticons before, Bumblebee could hardly be called a scout. Smokestack is more of a scout than he was. However, if he is being trained by Team Apocalypse, from what I have seen from that team's training footage that Rodimus let us look at, then he should at least be improving."

"Sentinel wouldn't let anybot slack," I agreed.

"I almost forgot I allowed you to travel with the Elite Guard to Earth during their visits before Megatron's capture," Vox stated. "How were interactions between Sentinel and Team Orion during all of that?"

"Stiff, and that is putting it as nicely as I can," I answered my Prime. "Sentinel was always on edge when Optimus and Elita-One were around. Even though they used to be on a temporary team together, there was no trust for those two in Sentinel's chassis. At one point, Starscream crashed into the street in front of us and Sentinel had immediately gone into a defensive position, like Ultra Magnus and I did. However, Team Orion had a very… laid-back approach to the situation. After Starscream put Ultra Magnus out of commission temporarily, Team Orion just charged in without a plan. It confused everything and S.P. and I were left to play defense as Starscream tossed everybot else around. Thankfully, Sentinel and I were able to organize the bots there to both keep collateral damage down and make sure Starscream didn't get away with the Allspark fragment we had been after."

"I'm sensing a but in this sentence," We both turned to see Rodimus walk in. From the heavy look he was sporting, I had a feeling that his talk with Sentinel went about as well as Vox's did with Optimus and Elita-One.

"What did you find out?" Vox asked Rodimus.

Rodimus, to my surprise, shook his helm before motioning to me. "In a click. I want to hear the rest of this. It might help me figure out what I just heard from Sentinel."

Well, that didn't put a damper on the mood. With a glance at Vox, to confirm that he wasn't going to try and convince Rodimus to report on their talks with the other Primes, I picked back up the story. "Since Optimus has mods suited for both combat and damage control, Sentinel had him guarding Ratchet and Sari while they fixed Ultra Magnus. But, he didn't listen and charged Starscream. S.P. and I had to quickly jump in without much of a plan and cover Optimus' openings that he was making. Since Sentinel couldn't cover all of us at all times, I got hit. Not bad enough to take the medic and Sari away from Ultra Magnus, but enough to keep me out of the fight. But, I was able to see Optimus just charge in again. S.P. used Optimus doing that, though, as a distraction to get the stasis cuffs on the 'Con."

"And what happened after?" Vox pressed on.

I could see that he wanted answers, and I would give them to him. I was his SIC. It was the least I could do. "Optimus was angry at Sentinel. Said that S.P. was just trying to steal the credit for defeating the Decepticon. Instead of arguing with Optimus, Sentinel just walked over to Ultra Magnus and checked on him."

"Slag,"

Vox and I turned to Rodimus when he said that. Why would he be upset by that? "So, now that we have that out of the way, how did your talk with Sentinel turn out?" Vox asked.

Rodimus let out a vent. "Good news, he talked to me."

"Better than I got. Besides some vague griping about Team Apocalypse, I couldn't get anything out of Optimus and Elita outside of static answers that we hear all the time on Cybertron." Vox informed Rodimus.

To my surprise, Rodimus shook his helm. "I think I would have rather gotten your reaction." He then paused for a nano before he told us everything that Sentinel told him. When Rodimus told us that Sentinel was considering declaring a team feud with Team Orion I felt my energon go cold. Things on Earth were a lot worse than we had heard they might be. Slag, we needed to help get them back to cooperating before the Decepticons took advantage of this. Team feuds were nothing to laugh about, and it usually took bots out of commission for solars at the least. With the fight here on Earth as tenuous as it was, we couldn't have that.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" I asked the two Primes sitting with me.

They both seemed to think for a nano before Vox spoke. "I think our best option is to have our teams try to be present whenever Team Orion and Team Apocalypse are near each other. If we intervene in any fights that might start before either side can take things too far, then we should be able to avoid a team feud."

"That might be our best option. I'll have Ironhide and Hot Shot try and stay near their scouts. Ironhide and Bumblebee are about the same age and I haven't met a bot yet who could get angry at Hot Shot for too long. It might be enough to keep Trecke at bay. Though from what I gathered from Sentinel, his team doesn't have any issues with Bumblebee, Sari, Ratchet, or Arcee. We should be able to keep security lax around them. At least for now." Rodimus had a good point. Since there were some bots on Team Orion that seemed to not be on Team Apocalypse's hit list, then we wouldn't have to watch them as much

Vox nodded. "And I can spend time with the Primes on Team Orion. Since I was already introducing myself to them, then I feel like I could keep a decent optic on them. I'll have Smokestack help me with that, just in case there is a confrontation." My Prime then motioned to Rodimus. "You seem to be able to talk with Sentinel without his team threatening to dismember you. If you wouldn't mind keeping near Sentinel when you can, that would help."

"And I can keep an optic on Prowler. We kinda clicked when I was here with the Elite Guard and I think I could keep him in line if I needed to. Plus, I might be able to convince him to relax around Team Apocalypse. If I can do that, that might help with this situation." I added in. Prowl was a good mech, but he sometimes got into his helm and that made him do things he normally wouldn't do. I could bring him out of whatever he might be thinking about Team Apocalypse.

"And if your inventor wouldn't mind, she and Brawn could work with that warrior of Team Orion's and Team Apocalypse's scout. Pastel and Optivic seem to give off a similar feel and they might work well together. Plus, Optivic can step in and hold a bot of Pastel's size back if need be. Brawn might be able to help Bulkhead focus and learn some skills he should have as a warrior. While he might have had the skill to scrape through his boot camp training with Dreamcatcher Minor, she doesn't have the skills to help guide warriors properly. That was why she moved from boot camp training to more specialized training for scouts and infiltrators." Rodimus added.

Vox nodded. "Optivic would love that. And I know that our two medics will be able to keep an optic out on Arcee and Ratchet, just in case." He then smirked. "Balm won't let her mentor do anything stupid. Not after the training that he put her through."

Oh, no way. Balm would have Ratchet hanging from the tallest building and welded to said building if he even tried anything like that. He had been sure to train anything like that out of her and she was more than willing to return the favor. Would kinda be funny to see though. Maybe I could convince her to do something like that once we got tensions down a little.

"Then we have a plan for now." Rodimus then stood. "If you two want, I am joining the rest of my team for some training. We could make it a joint training exercise if you want."

Vox and I looked toward each other and, in an instant, I knew that we would be joining them. "Sure, why not?" Vox answered Rodimus.

While Vox contacted the rest of the team to let them know the plan, Rodimus spoke up again. "Oh, and before I forget to say anything I want to make sure I do. I'm not sure how many of your team have signed Fable's medical release form, but I would highly recommend it after you read it. He will refuse to work on anybot that has not signed his form."

I felt a shiver travel up my back plates at that. I knew of Fable's reputation. I would be surprised if there was a bot who didn't know. Being torn apart every time I went to see the mech didn't sound like something I was interested in doing. But, given the situation here on Earth, I might just have to. We only had four trained medics to treat twenty-three full Cybertronians and one techno-organic. If we were in a major battle, we might just have trouble. One of those medics was Fable. Plus, if Rodimus wasn't exaggerating about Fable's willingness to work on bots who hadn't signed his form, then that might mean a larger workload for the other three. His entire team would have signed it, and I had a feeling that, since they were getting training from Team Apocalypse, Sari and Bumblebee had signed it.

"How many of your team have signed it?" Vox asked as he joined us.

Rodimus didn't hesitate to answer. "Now? We all have. Before our first incident while training? Only Hot Shot and I had. I think Hot Shot has a knack for picking up what he should do in situations like that and didn't hesitate in reading it and signing it. I signed it because I knew that Red Alert may be too busy with other injuries to fix what I might have or, worse, she might get injured. And that was what happened to her and Brawn during our joint training exercise. Fable staunchly refused to fix them. Had to wait for medics from Iacon Central to arrive to fix them up. After that, the rest of my team saw the wisdom in signing the form."

"But, what about the…dissections?" I asked. I couldn't imagine sitting while some bot tore my chassis apart.

However, Rodimus shook his helm. "Honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Weird at first, but no pain. Even found some residual Cosmic Rust in one of the seams that I wouldn't have been able to get to without taking off my lower leg." He then noticeably shuddered at that.

I forgot he had a brush with the substance. Cosmic Rust was nasty stuff. When I heard that the Decepticons were using it as a weapon, I immediately went and got corrostop infused into my armor. I couldn't imagine how he felt. Glancing at Vox, I knew we were on the same wavelength. Despite how unnerving it would be to have a medic taking me apart, we wouldn't make that sort of mistake. Unless the form was ridiculous, we would sign it.

I mean, it wasn't like he could take helms off.

Right?


Sentinel: Frag, did you get enough in this chapter?

Authoress: *confused* What? I thought I held back quite a bit.

Sentinel: *surprised* You did?

Authoress: *nods* Of course. There was so much more that I could have brought up.


AN: And here is the long-awaited next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this and sorry for the length between chapters. But, I am hooked on my 'Of One' saga and it is hard to get inspiration for the other stories I have. But, enough about that. This chapter had a lot to dissect. Between Team Apocalypse meeting Evan and Tim in the bot and the arrival of the other two teams, this is going to get crazy. Poor Vox and Rodimus are already seeing this.

Well, I don't want to give anything away, so here are the names of the next chapters. (One is a big one).

Chapter 15: Open Internal Borders

Chapter 16: Fall of the Prime

Chapter 17:...(find out next time! You all already have a lot to digest with Chapter 16's title anyway)

That's all for now! Please drop a review, or say hi in one. They are greatly appreciated. I know that this has been a long time in coming but I hope you have enjoyed this. While I won't guarantee the next time this story will be updated, I hope it will take less time than this update did. Well, that's all for now. Until we meet again, TTYL! *listening to the Transformers Prime soundtrack...which is a lot more addicting than I thought it would be*