Ch. 169

Starscream cursed under his breath and hissed when he clipped the tip of his digit on a small clamp. The view was obscured by his chestplate momentarily, the red Decepticon sigil noticeably dented and scuffed. With a small 'ah ha!' of triumph, the seeker finally pulled back and smiled in a smug fashion, leaning back to sit in one of the lab chairs.

"Well, a thought came to me soon after all-"

Optimus quickly stopped the file when he heard pedfalls approaching the lab. From the heavy sound he could easily deduce that one of three mechs was coming to check on him. It was apparently evident who when that bot stayed just outside the door and knocked first.

The Prime smiled softly, "You may enter, Ultra Magnus."

The door slid open and the tall blue mech walked in slowly, standing up straight, "Optimus, sir. I have updates to report."

Optimus smiled softer, almost sadly, and gently waved the general down, "At ease, Magnus. Our team is not quite as versed in the formalities required here. Please do not feel pressured to continue in the same fashion. Should you need to speak to me, I am always available..."

Ultra Magnus shook his helm, "If I may speak freely, sir," the Prime held in a sigh and nodded, "Order is the only thing keeping us from a chaotic mess and subsequent failure. I must preserve this order for the safety of my crew and my leader."

Optimus shook his helm to himself but nodded again, "I understand your position in its entirety, Magnus. Then please do me the favor of not punishing my team should they fail to adhere to the code. They are very set in their ways, as am I."

Before the blue mech could press further, Optimus gestured back to him, "You have pertinent information?"

Ultra Magnus nodded, "As of my last quarterly update, Arcee, Bumblebee and Knockout have finished installing the last upgrades to the Harbinger. This section of the ship should be completely operational by the next quarterly update."

The Prime nodded, "That is good to hear..."

"There is more, sir."

"More?"

Magnus frowned, "The human collective harbored in the far side of our base has become restless. The loudest one..."

Optimus smiled, "Miko. If she is causing trouble..."

"Not anymore, she isn't. I tasked Breakdown with keeping an optic on them until we can relinquish them back into the care of their human government. Their time spent here could greatly affect our productivity and everyone's safety."

The red mech sighed, "... I understand. Anything else?"

Ultra Magnus nodded, "Quite a bit sir..." he glanced behind the Prime carefully, seeing the frozen image of Starscream's video log paused, "but perhaps you would prefer the abridged version..."

Optimus turned to look at the seeker's awkwardly paused, smiling faceplates, and felt a pang of guilt begin to brew again in his spark, "No... ... No, this can wait," he turned back to the blue mech, "what is it I need to know?"

Ultra Magnus frowned and spoke clearly, "Smokescreen has volunteered alongside Soundwave to begin the first perimeter check later this evening. They will begin at eighteen-hundred hours and will be replaced two hours later by Arcee and Knockout, with quarterly updates given in between. Ratchet informs me that Wheeljack's condition has very much improved and he will be ready for perimeter half-checks in a couple of days. Ratchet also told me that a human called 'Agent Fowler' has been in contact with him; he is relieved to see that your team survived a very devastating blow. Bulkhead has been consistently monitoring and attempting to fix the Harbinger's COMM equipment, but from what he told me about a little stint involving holo-form technology not too far back, he's not optimistic about finding anything useful off the Decepticon logs. Soundwave is sure we can make the connection again, but he is hesitant to do so in case it relays our location to the Nemesis."

"Understood..." Optimus blinked softly, "Is there... anything else?"

Ultra Magnus shook his helm, "No sir. You've been given the abridged edition to make this all move more smoothly. I can tend to your duties while you take some time away."

The Prime almost shrugged, "Magnus, I am not in need of rest."

"No," the blue mech admitted, "but you will not be at your best until you've finished watching that file. If we allow it to remain a distraction, it could put us all in jeopardy. Consider this your own personal mission. None of us could complete it. I will check in with you again after five quarterly updates. I am sure the video will be done by then."

Ultra Magnus saluted quickly and left the room, closing the door behind him. Optimus was then left to his own thoughts. He wished his friend wasn't right about his state of mind but to even glance back at that naïve smile, that unknowing, carefree seeker who had no idea what was to come, made the Prime's spark break. So he sat at the computer console and started the file from the beginning once more. He had to watch it in its entirety, uninterrupted and unhindered, no matter what it ultimately revealed to him.